BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 75,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,058 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $61,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth 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. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 671.4% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction 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 approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total value of $2,669,833.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,972,959.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $762.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $802.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $760.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.