BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Now Covered by Wells Fargo & Company

Equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.90% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $885.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $131.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $903.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $857.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $814.37. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Lam Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by 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.