UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $30.68 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,930 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.9% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $981.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $990.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.