BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 90,297 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,954 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned 0.06% of BlackRock worth $75,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 671.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 458 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 42,689 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $27,598,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 843 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK traded down $3.74 on Wednesday, reaching $750.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 614,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,771. The firm has a market cap of $111.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $799.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $763.50. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. 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 report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $845.42.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,378 shares in the company, valued at $54,972,959.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,378 shares in the company, valued at $54,972,959.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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