Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Metis Global Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 522 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 87.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,299.29.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.1%

BLK opened at $1,081.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $167.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,130.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,068.02.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $11.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.