BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research note issued on Wednesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

BlackRock stock opened at $985.59 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $152.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,031.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $938.17.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during 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 buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $115,377,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 48.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,148,000 after purchasing an additional 109,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.