SSA Swiss Advisors AG Decreases Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

SSA Swiss Advisors AG decreased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.7% of SSA Swiss Advisors AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. SSA Swiss Advisors AG’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 103 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 239.2% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 357,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $375,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,138.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,139.57 and a 200 day moving average of $1,051.77.

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). BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,299.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.