BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,385 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,472 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $109,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 87.5% in the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,041.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $161.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,109.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,080.30. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $11.46 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,372.00 to $1,313.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,302.59.

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.