252 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Acquired by GC Wealth Management RIA LLC

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 252 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

BlackRock stock opened at $912.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $141.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. 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 twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $990.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $986.42.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

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.