AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,213 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 13,560 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $74,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $66,000. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,312,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $399,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 31.8% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK traded up $12.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $928.47. The stock had a trading volume of 822,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 687,871. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $916.68 and its 200 day moving average is $981.14. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.