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

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total transaction of $9,434,479.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,527,116. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $995.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $12.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $988.75. The stock had a trading volume of 121,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,855. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $921.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $840.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $1,032.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.