Aviva PLC Has $91.47 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Aviva PLC increased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 42.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,233 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 26,748 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.06% of BlackRock worth $91,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,130.85.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $822.38 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $968.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $991.65. The company has a market capitalization of $127.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% 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.