BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,394 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.18% of BlackRock worth $213,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 671.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the third quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 30.1% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 42,689 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,598,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% in the third quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 843 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2 %

BLK stock traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $761.28. 483,707 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 624,333. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $802.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $761.81. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

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.