Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $15.12 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,747 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.0 %

BLK stock opened at $909.96 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $987.79 and its 200-day moving average is $985.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

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.