Warm Springs Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 727 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Warm Springs Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 727 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:BLK traded up $17.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $980.35. 843,123 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 694,531. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $752.30 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $921.10 and a 200 day moving average of $976.41. The stock has a market cap of $151.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. 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. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

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.