Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,523 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,572 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $46,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 458 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.7% during the third quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 843 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.2 %

BLK stock opened at $761.28 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market cap of $113.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $801.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $762.69.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,691,032.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the 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 owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About BlackRock

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.