GM Advisory Group LLC Invests $291,000 in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

GM Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 284 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in BlackRock by 268.7% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $265,000. Stokes Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 5,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,628,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,113,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on 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, UBS Group raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of BLK opened at $956.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $148.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $981.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $987.59.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

BlackRock Company 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.