MQS Management LLC Grows Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

MQS Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 310 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 10 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Garde Capital Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,138.60 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,139.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,054.51. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.46 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,299.29.

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.