Opal Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 109 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 109 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,146,000 after buying an additional 5,760 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,117,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Cedar Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $1,885,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $971.24 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $766.05 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $937.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $971.71. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.