National Pension Service Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 244,701 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,889 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $198,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $10.10 on Thursday, reaching $788.43. The company had a trading volume of 199,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 616,625. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $796.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $768.53. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The firm has a market cap of $117.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,987 shares of company stock worth $55,353,400 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

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.