Reliant Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Reliant Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,636 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 2.3% of Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

BLK stock opened at $990.26 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $925.28 and its 200 day moving average is $973.54. The company has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. 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 earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,082.46.

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.