MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.15 Million Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000. BlackRock comprises about 1.1% of MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its stake in BlackRock by 208.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 671.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $8.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $783.26. The company had a trading volume of 246,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,737. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $796.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $767.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total value of $2,460,966.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,849,424.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,087 shares of company stock worth $57,814,366. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 note on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

About BlackRock

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.