Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 64.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 38.5% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 648 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in BlackRock by 5.2% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,742 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $255,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 562 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peoples Bank OH boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 316 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $995.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total value of $9,434,479.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,527,116. The trade was 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. In other news, 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 value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,527,116. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,511 shares of company stock worth $55,568,552. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $985.08 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $623.77 and a 1 year high of $1,032.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $940.00 and its 200 day moving average is $852.25. 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 earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 42.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.