Ethic Inc. Acquires 5,507 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 77.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,625 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,507 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of BLK stock traded up $34.77 on Monday, hitting $958.21. The stock had a trading volume of 807,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,636. The business has a 50 day moving average of $913.01 and a 200 day moving average of $978.40. The stock has a market cap of $148.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.