Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC Buys 34 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 892 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,532,000 after buying an additional 12,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,284,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $923.48 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $913.01 and a 200 day moving average of $978.44. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $752.30 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $143.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of 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 upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.