BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Up 1.1%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s stock price shot up 1.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $771.55 and last traded at $765.32. 189,158 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 616,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $757.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $113.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $797.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $764.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.93 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,057 shares of company stock valued at $58,575,704. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 671.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 72,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $46,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 436 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 9,186 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.