GAMMA Investing LLC Has $3.50 Million Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,698 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $534,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 116.9% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 807 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,758 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $16,154,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Three investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,102.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded up $18.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,049.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 799,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,037. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $962.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $969.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

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 stock was 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 owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.