BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Cut to $837.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at UBS Group from $842.00 to $837.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.42% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $915.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.6 %

BLK stock opened at $825.26 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $786.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $792.91. The company has a market capitalization of $122.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after purchasing an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in BlackRock by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,006,490,000 after buying an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,812,920,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.