Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 1,748 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,226 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of BlackRock worth $103,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $285,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $334,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 91.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

BLK stock opened at $928.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market cap of $144.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $983.61 and its 200 day moving average is $985.61.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

About BlackRock

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.