GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys New Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 352 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,251,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,036.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $984.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $879.49. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $724.54 and a twelve month high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI boosted 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.