Wealthspire Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 77,524.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,211,390,000 after purchasing an additional 641,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,105,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,361,064,000 after buying an additional 379,631 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in BlackRock by 84.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 744,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $481,486,000 after buying an additional 340,792 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in BlackRock by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,745,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,128,544,000 after acquiring an additional 307,516 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 24.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 713,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $461,446,000 after purchasing an additional 139,570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,987 shares of company stock valued at $55,353,400. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded up $11.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $789.52. The company had a trading volume of 654,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,527. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $795.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $768.60. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $845.00. The company has a market capitalization of $117.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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