W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Raises Stake in BlackRock $BLK

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 658 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $13.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,080.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,097. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,129.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,073.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 target price on shares of BlackRock and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,303.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.