Griffin Asset Management Inc. Invests $1.51 Million in BlackRock $BLK

Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% in the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $175.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,184.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,134.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,035.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

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.