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

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

BLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of BLK opened at $928.74 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $144.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $983.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $985.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% in the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,921,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently 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.