Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Purchases Shares of 61,531 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 61,531 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $63,076,000. BlackRock accounts for 0.7% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $980.35 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $921.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $976.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.