Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Decreases Position in BlackRock $BLK

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lowered its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment increased its stake in BlackRock by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $794,570,000 after buying an additional 189,500 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,081.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $167.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,130.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,068.02. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.46 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,299.29.

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.