829 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Bought by Griffith & Werner Inc.

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

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BLK. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Three equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $3.23 on Thursday, reaching $974.51. 157,408 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 846,982. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.29 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The business's 50-day moving average is $922.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $976.40. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.