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

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

BLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $995.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $991.50 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $646.91 and a 12-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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $942.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $853.97. The company has a market capitalization of $146.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 42.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $875.03, for a total value of $10,500,360.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,670,194.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,061 shares of company stock valued at $30,734,840. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $38,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.