Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,742 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 404 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 117,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $111,377,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $962.75 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market cap of $149.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,029.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $943.81.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,088.67.

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.