Aspiriant LLC Invests $405,000 in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Aspiriant LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 395 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,941 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.7% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,358 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $22,327,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 6,300.0% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 5.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction 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 approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $5.48 on Wednesday, reaching $1,006.61. 570,283 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,651. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,025.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $951.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock's payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.