820 Shares in BlackRock $BLK Bought by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 820 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP increased its position in BlackRock by 217.5% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $722,247,000 after acquiring an additional 424,388 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in BlackRock by 29,043.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 245,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,748,000 after acquiring an additional 244,253 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in BlackRock by 39.5% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 547,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $645,354,000 after acquiring an additional 154,907 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,249 shares of company stock valued at $47,671,714. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,073.03 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,018.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,054.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.44. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,220.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. CICC Research boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.