Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Invests $1.62 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,580 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,619,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of BLK traded down $21.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $866.65. 586,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 683,322. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market cap of $134.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $937.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $987.19.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.