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

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $953.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,006.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $980.19. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $332,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,605,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Old Port Advisors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.