Global Retirement Partners LLC Purchases 1,046 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $976.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,016.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $975.86. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by 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.