Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.28 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,582 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in BlackRock by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,178,048,000 after buying an additional 104,844 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,148,586,000 after buying an additional 35,161 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,812,920,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 22.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,105,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,361,064,000 after purchasing an additional 379,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,535 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,212,000 after purchasing an additional 47,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK traded up $5.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $762.88. The company had a trading volume of 447,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,111. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $845.00. The company has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $802.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $760.15.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Company 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.