Aviso Financial Inc. Acquires 130 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Aviso Financial Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,243 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $2,077,000. FCG Investment Co bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $1,298,000. Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 388 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in BlackRock by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 1,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 18,186 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,212,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,136.35 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,074.33 and its 200 day moving average is $989.18. The firm has a market cap of $175.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

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.