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

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $928.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market cap of $144.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $916.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.38. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,122,743,000 after buying an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $572,730,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.