BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BLK. UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,016.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,025.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $951.85. 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 stock has a market cap of $157.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 2.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 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.