Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,309 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 923 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,473,000. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in BlackRock by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 231 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.2%

BLK stock traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $977.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,060,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,922. The company has a market cap of $151.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50 day moving average price is $922.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $975.46. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

BlackRock 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.