BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,857 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $57,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in BlackRock by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,532,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $46,284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $923.48 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $913.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $978.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

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.