Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Decreases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 156.6% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,502,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Jacobs & Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $923.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $143.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $913.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $978.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $752.30 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.