BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BLK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,260.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,174.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 3.59. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,075.18 and a 200-day moving average of $1,045.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $12.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has processed more than $5 billion in tax-deferred conversions from directly held Bitcoin. Reducing the minimum conversion size from $25 million to $1 million could make the product accessible to more wealthy investors and institutions, potentially supporting assets under management and fee revenue. However, these transactions transfer existing Bitcoin into the ETF rather than representing equivalent new cash inflows. Bitcoin to $100K? BlackRock’s $5B ETF Shift Pulls More BTC Into Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts remain broadly optimistic about BlackRock’s growth prospects and target price, despite the shares’ strong multiyear advance. What Are Wall Street Analysts’ Target Price for BlackRock Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock named Jessica Tan to lead its global product unit, a management change that could influence future product development and distribution but whose financial impact is not yet clear. BlackRock names Jessica Tan to head global product unit
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced final August cash distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF. The announcement is routine and primarily affects fund investors rather than BlackRock’s corporate earnings. BlackRock Canada Announces Final August Cash Distributions
• Negative Sentiment: Rosen Law Firm said it is investigating potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds, alleging that the company may have issued materially misleading business information. The announcement does not establish wrongdoing, but it introduces potential legal, reputational and financial risk. BlackRock Investor News: Rosen Law Firm Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: One valuation review says BlackRock now trades near fair value on intrinsic estimates and looks expensive on earnings multiples after an approximately 82% three-year return, limiting near-term upside unless earnings and fee growth accelerate. BlackRock Stock Looks Fully Valued After an 82% Run

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.