StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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

Several other research firms have also commented on BLK. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $932.71.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $949.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $141.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $960.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $890.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $826.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 35.8% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $322,810,000 after buying an additional 14,477 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,735,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in BlackRock by 219.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,737,000 after buying an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $161,918,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by 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.