M&G PLC Sells 2,232 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

M&G PLC trimmed its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,129 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,232 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% in the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,303.41.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.3%

BLK stock opened at $1,068.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,128.20 and its 200 day moving average is $1,073.03. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $165.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.