Global Retirement Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,825 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % 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 this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.5 %

BLK stock traded down $14.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $974.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,253,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,976. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,011.61 and a 200 day moving average of $977.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.