StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on BLK. TD Cowen upped their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,036.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $972.23.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $990.48 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $896.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $830.08. The company has a market cap of $147.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $996.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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 $10.30 by $1.16. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,052,000 after buying an additional 47,128 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $942,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,311 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.