Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC Invests $1.12 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,124,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $330,662,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,377,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,006.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $155.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,025.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $951.85. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction 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 $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.