Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Has $2.28 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,222 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 989 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $8.51 on Friday, hitting $1,004.23. 1,079,196 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 610,586. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,027.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $946.18. The company has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business's revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,103.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company'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 owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents 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.

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.