Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 132 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 257.9% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 68 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total transaction of $9,434,479.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $995.31.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $12.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $988.75. 121,403 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 573,855. 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 50-day moving average price of $921.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $840.57. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $1,032.00. The stock has a market cap of $146.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.