Investment Management Corp of Ontario Increases Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 40.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,024 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in BlackRock by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,532,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $46,284,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $923.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $143.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $752.30 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $913.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $978.44.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.