BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up about 3.7% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $18,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $38,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $53,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total value of $9,434,479.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,527,116. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 35,061 shares of company stock worth $30,734,840 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. Evercore ISI raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,004.54.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,039.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $650.63 and a 52-week high of $1,057.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $953.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $860.23. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 42.94 EPS for the current 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.