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

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $973.22 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,019.28 and a 200-day moving average of $973.49. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $2,356,357,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $572,730,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.