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

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,701 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,889 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of BlackRock worth $198,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings 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. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $10.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $788.43. 199,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 616,625. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $796.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $768.53. The company has a market cap of $117.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $845.00. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The company’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 company posted $7.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their target price 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Three equities 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

Insider Activity

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