Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,641 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of BlackRock worth $334,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,053.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $956.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $863.66. The firm has a market cap of $156.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $658.14 and a 1 year high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BLK. Citigroup boosted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus increased their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

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.