Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,149 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,203,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $235,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,014 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 244.3% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $958.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $148.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $912.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $978.16. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current 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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