BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $995.31.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $980.54 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $935.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $848.38. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $604.41 and a 52 week high of $1,032.00. The stock has a market cap of $145.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Donald L. Hagan LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 4.7% during the third quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 2,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,221,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. AHL Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.