Sfmg LLC Raises Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sfmg LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 602 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $811.43.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $13.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $749.67. 663,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 632,296. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $807.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $755.20. The stock has a market cap of $111.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.