Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 563 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,920,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 907 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. McAdam LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $237,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $982.93 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $752.30 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $922.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $974.15. The company has a market capitalization of $152.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.