ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,824 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 751 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 671.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 21,011 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,583,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $318,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in BlackRock by 16.5% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,522 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:BLK traded up $6.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $763.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 558,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 689,289. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $797.35 and a 200-day moving average of $764.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.42.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,225.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,057 shares of company stock worth $58,575,704. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock 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.