Greenleaf Trust Increases Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in BlackRock by 11.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $10,990,052,000 after buying an additional 292,017 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $161,918,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in BlackRock by 174.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 184,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,096,000 after buying an additional 117,218 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $86,282,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total transaction of $9,434,479.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,527,116. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.2 %

BLK traded down $2.26 on Wednesday, reaching $998.55. 29,785 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 573,500. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $921.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $840.57. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $1,032.00. The company has a market cap of $148.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $995.31.

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.