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

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research note released on Wednesday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus upped their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,046.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $708.75 and a fifty-two week high of $1,068.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $965.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $867.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $444,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 47,602 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,686,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its stake in BlackRock by 7.9% during the first quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 13,764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,475,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 275 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 10,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,972,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is 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.