Gabelli Funds LLC Has $13.01 Million Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Spreng Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $19.66 on Friday, hitting $856.20. 555,814 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 593,194. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $795.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $795.65. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $857.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,978 shares of company stock worth $54,692,570. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $872.29.

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.