Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Takes $533,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 563 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

BLK traded up $4.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $990.26. 623,159 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 690,393. The company's fifty day moving average price is $925.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $973.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 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 business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.