Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. Takes $320,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 312 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 0.2% of Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,432,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth $24,957,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,600.0% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,384,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Ashburton Jersey Ltd purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 518 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,070.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $165.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,024.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $959.65.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. 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 (DPR) is 48.57%.

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.