Palisade Asset Management LLC Buys 34 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.2% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,036.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $724.54 and a twelve month high of $1,068.34. The stock has a market cap of $160.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $984.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $879.49.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction 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 $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.62.

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.