BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Trimmed by Stonegate Investment Group LLC

Stonegate Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in BlackRock by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after buying an additional 749,654 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,178,048,000 after purchasing an additional 104,844 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,148,586,000 after purchasing an additional 35,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after buying an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $6.38 on Tuesday, reaching $754.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 418,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,854. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $845.00. The company has a market cap of $112.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $800.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $763.59.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up previously 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 raised their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were 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 owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 7,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $786.36, for a total value of $5,532,828.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,135,467.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.