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

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $21.76 on Tuesday, reaching $990.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 502,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,129. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,031.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $936.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,070.08.

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.