Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,945 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,681 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after acquiring an additional 435,358 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $942,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $12.15 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $986.22. 329,363 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,597. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $600.26 and a 1 year high of $1,032.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $928.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $844.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $995.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was 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 this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.