GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 62 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,670 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 927 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 326 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,005.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $155.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,025.82 and a 200 day moving average of $966.82.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.