Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Grows Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,766 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $995.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $5.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $986.06. The company had a trading volume of 205,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 568,922. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $937.94 and a 200-day moving average of $849.30. The company has a market capitalization of $146.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $623.77 and a 12-month high of $1,032.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 42.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total value of $9,434,479.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,527,116. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total value of $9,434,479.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,527,116. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,511 shares of company stock worth $55,568,552. 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.