Romano Brothers AND Company Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Romano Brothers AND Company cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,963 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 696 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 849 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.6% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $210,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,822,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $988.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $924.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $841.60. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $1,032.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $995.31.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.