GSB Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

GSB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 220 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE increased its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,131.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,121.97 and a 200-day moving average of $1,015.69. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $175.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company 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.