61,531 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 61,531 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $63,076,000. BlackRock accounts for 0.7% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,284,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,307,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $977.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,060,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,922. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $752.30 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $922.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $974.57. The company has a market capitalization of $151.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.