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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a report released on Monday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on BLK. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.00.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,054.83 on Monday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company has a market cap of $163.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,024.06 and its 200-day moving average is $917.84.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in BlackRock by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 673 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.4% during the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by 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.