UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,006.61 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,025.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $951.47. The company has a market cap of $155.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 5.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,827,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.