BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,439 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,399 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of BlackRock worth $96,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $897.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $947.97 and its 200-day moving average is $988.95. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,099.62.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.