Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Has $878,000 Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 928 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,152,907,000 after buying an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,631,684,000 after buying an additional 272,176 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,091.29 on Friday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,040.67 and a 200 day moving average of $981.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The firm has a market cap of $169.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock 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 sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.