BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BLK. Argus increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $932.71.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $949.19 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $890.01 and a 200 day moving average of $826.67. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $960.74. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $141.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

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