Baird Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 197,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,512 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $202,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $928.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $916.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $981.14. The firm has a market cap of $144.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

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

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.