Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $17.24 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 7,147.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,813 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 16,581 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in BlackRock were worth $17,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $928.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50 day moving average is $916.68 and its 200-day moving average is $981.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $752.30 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS 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.

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