Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. decreased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,453 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 918 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in BlackRock by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,532,000 after buying an additional 12,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,284,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. TD Cowen lowered their target price on 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays upped their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $5.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $920.27. 493,927 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,869. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $915.48 and a 200 day moving average of $979.95. The stock has a market cap 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. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.