Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 7,830 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 110.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,830 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in BlackRock by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in BlackRock by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,591,000 after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares during the last quarter. Opus Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $1,420,000. Finally, Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $1,893,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.94.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,068.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,088.21 and its 200 day moving average is $1,090.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.