BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Investment analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,028.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $944.64.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after buying an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after buying an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.