Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 372,725 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,285 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.25% of BlackRock worth $302,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in BlackRock by 208.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 671.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $763.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $113.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $845.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $808.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $753.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.29.

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.