Griffith & Werner Inc. Takes $850,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 829 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $850,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $279,000. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 491 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.6%

BlackRock stock opened at $964.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $920.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $977.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.