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

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

BLK has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $855.56 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $748.02 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $927.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $985.23. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $132.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,532,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864 shares in the last quarter. 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.