BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a report published on Monday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $995.31.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

BLK stock opened at $980.54 on Monday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $604.41 and a twelve month high of $1,032.00. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $145.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $935.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $848.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.