AA Financial Advisors LLC Buys 217 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 47.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 672 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $572,730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.0%

BlackRock stock opened at $981.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $152.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $941.17 and a 200-day moving average of $971.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $766.05 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Company 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.