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

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

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.00.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE BLK opened at $1,025.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,029.36 and its 200-day moving average is $930.18. 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 has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after acquiring an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is 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.