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

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $572,730,000. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $528,792,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $17.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $980.35. 843,123 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 694,531. The firm has a market cap of $151.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $752.30 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $921.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $976.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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, 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 analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

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.