Junto Capital Management LP Reduces Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Junto Capital Management LP lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 65.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,583 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 111,236 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP's holdings in BlackRock were worth $60,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 156.6% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 213 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,122 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,502,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in BlackRock by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,566 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $32,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of BLK stock traded up $6.63 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $965.81. The company had a trading volume of 679,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,137. The company's fifty day moving average is $913.18 and its 200 day moving average is $978.07. 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 fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.