Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Takes Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 712 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,579 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $33,146,000 after acquiring an additional 5,760 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,257 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $35,117,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunburst Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Argus upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,096.31.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE BLK traded down $13.20 on Tuesday, hitting $968.90. 624,773 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 690,124. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $942.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.07.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm 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 company earned $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 2.15%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.63%.

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.