Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 329,244 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 0.6% of Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.36% of BlackRock worth $2,152,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK traded down $4.75 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $915.78. 481,294 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 686,787. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $142.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $915.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $979.95.

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

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.