Metis Global Partners LLC Sells 477 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,689 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 477 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE BLK traded up $6.91 on Friday, reaching $763.91. 558,283 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 689,289. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The company has a market cap of $113.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $797.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $766.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48.

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. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,057 shares of company stock valued at $58,575,704. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.