UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Lowers Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 2.0% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,178,048,000 after purchasing an additional 104,844 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,148,586,000 after buying an additional 35,161 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,361,064,000 after buying an additional 379,631 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,535 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,212,000 after buying an additional 47,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 21.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,745,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,128,544,000 after buying an additional 307,516 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $6.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $780.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 773,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,947. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $796.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $767.36. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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 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 firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,225.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,087 shares of company stock worth $57,814,366. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.