Matrix Trust Co Decreases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Matrix Trust Co lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,568 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $5.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $762.88. The company had a trading volume of 447,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,111. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $802.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $760.15. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.