Financial Counselors Inc. Buys 2,262 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 94.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,667 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,262 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 219.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,737,000 after buying an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,162,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 62.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,804,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,019.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $725.86 and a 1-year high of $1,068.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $993.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $886.09. The company has a market capitalization of $157.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.84 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.62.

BlackRock 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.