PDS Planning Inc Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 579 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. 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 report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,972,959.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,378 shares in the company, valued at $54,972,959.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

BlackRock stock traded up $6.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $766.72. The stock had a trading volume of 157,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 624,050. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $845.00. The firm has a market cap of $114.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $804.19 and a 200 day moving average of $758.48.

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

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.