Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 2,082 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,618 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $47,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $115,000. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $749.02 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $845.00. The stock has a market cap of $111.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $807.70 and a 200-day moving average of $755.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $811.43.

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.