BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at 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 Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.00.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BLK opened at $1,027.43 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,028.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $927.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $159.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by 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.