BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 0.2%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s stock price rose 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $758.63 and last traded at $752.79. Approximately 102,563 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 615,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $751.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

BlackRock Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $799.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $763.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $113.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $784.69, for a total transaction of $408,038.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,256,463.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 520 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $784.69, for a total value of $408,038.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,256,463.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,093 shares of company stock valued at $64,108,533 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.