Dover Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Dover Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 32.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 679 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 671.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BLK traded up $5.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $762.88. The stock had a trading volume of 447,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,111. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $845.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $802.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $761.81. The company has a market cap of $113.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at $6,849,424.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.