BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $995.31.

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus raised their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $980.54 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $604.41 and a 52-week high of $1,032.00. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $145.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $935.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $848.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.8% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,945,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in BlackRock by 219.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $161,918,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $7,085,000. 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.