Cetera Trust Company N.A Invests $2.91 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,579 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,905,000. BlackRock makes up 1.8% of Cetera Trust Company N.A's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $115,000. United Bank raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 35.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in BlackRock by 11.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BLK traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $749.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 867,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 641,054. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $805.02 and a 200-day moving average of $757.63. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $845.42.

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.