Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,068 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up about 1.0% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.09% of BlackRock worth $136,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $572,730,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $343,976,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $34.77 on Monday, reaching $958.21. The company had a trading volume of 807,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,636. The firm has a market cap of $148.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $913.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $978.40. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

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

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.