Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,512 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,878 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,512 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of BlackRock worth $202,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK traded up $5.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $920.27. The stock had a trading volume of 493,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,869. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $752.30 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company's fifty day moving average is $915.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $979.95.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.81 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.