BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price Up 0.4% Following Earnings Beat

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $778.22 and last traded at $766.10. 272,115 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 617,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $763.40.

The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.93 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $811.43.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,972,959.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after buying an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in BlackRock by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after buying an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 104,159.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 697,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $494,269,000 after buying an additional 696,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 77,524.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,211,390,000 after buying an additional 641,128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $808.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $754.48. The stock has a market cap of $113.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37.

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.