Raymond James & Associates Sells 25,324 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 246,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25,324 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $205,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in BlackRock by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after buying an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 77,524.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,211,390,000 after buying an additional 641,128 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 22.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,105,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,361,064,000 after acquiring an additional 379,631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total value of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,849,424.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $5.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $762.88. The stock had a trading volume of 447,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,111. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $802.08 and its 200 day moving average is $760.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year 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 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 analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

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.