BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,322.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $1,390.00 to $1,322.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.59% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BLK. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,180.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.94.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,069.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $165.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,090.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,089.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,791,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $233,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,234,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 117,961 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $137,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in BlackRock by 192.6% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.