BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,355 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in BlackRock by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $161,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $995.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $9.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $974.07. 433,666 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,772. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $144.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $1,032.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $928.50 and its 200-day moving average is $844.05.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share 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.