Riverwater Partners LLC Has $454,000 Stock Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Riverwater Partners LLC reduced its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 480 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reduced 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $977.88 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $946.64 and its 200 day moving average is $970.82. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $151.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.