Grove Bank & Trust Takes $435,000 Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 460 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after buying an additional 68,405 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,450,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:BLK traded up $8.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $977.88. The stock had a trading volume of 662,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,856. The business's 50 day moving average is $944.22 and its 200-day moving average is $971.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The company has a market cap of $151.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. 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. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

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.