Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 549 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $54,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,031.49 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $724.54 and a 52 week high of $1,068.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $987.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $882.60. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $159.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.62.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The trade was a 64.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.