BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $925.07.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $951.49 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $888.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $825.47. 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 has a market capitalization of $141.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $958.63.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 41.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.