Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Purchases 63 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 393.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $75,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $971.54 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $922.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $976.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.