BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Gradient Capital Advisors LLC

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 426 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $988.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,024.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.03. The firm has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.