Aviance Capital Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.5% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BLK traded up $10.73 on Monday, hitting $774.64. 449,726 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 619,190. The company has a market capitalization of $115.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $845.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $796.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $767.36.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS 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 business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. 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 research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the company’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 $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at $6,849,424.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,087 shares of company stock valued at $57,814,366. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.