Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 701 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 823 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in BlackRock by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $2,460,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.1 %

BLK traded down $21.76 on Tuesday, reaching $990.98. 502,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 542,129. The company has a market cap of $153.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. 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 one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,031.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $936.16.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the 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 owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.