Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Position in BlackRock $BLK

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 522 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Welch Group LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.2% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 760 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in BlackRock by 9.6% in the second quarter. CNB Bank now owns 103 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Oklahoma boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,081.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $167.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,130.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,068.02.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Argus upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,299.29.

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.