Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 59 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,912 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 35.8% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in BlackRock by 219.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $161,918,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,333 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,030.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $152.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $673.00 and a 12-month high of $1,068.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $959.13 and its 200 day moving average is $865.58.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS 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 business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

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.