Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $338,000 in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 343 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded down $1.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $966.36. 147,108 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 900,827. The company has a market cap of $150.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $980.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $990.36.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.