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

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report issued on Saturday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,036.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $972.23.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $990.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $996.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $899.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $831.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake 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 worth $177,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% in 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 during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Company 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.