Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Sells 918 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 918 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $928.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $916.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $981.14. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $144.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

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.