Aviso Financial Inc. Grows Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,388 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,302.59.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,030.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $159.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,113.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,080.86. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.59%.

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.