South Plains Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,434 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000. BlackRock accounts for about 1.1% of South Plains Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded up $12.33 on Friday, reaching $928.47. The stock had a trading volume of 822,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 687,871. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $916.68 and a 200-day moving average of $981.14. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Company 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.