BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 0.6%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shot up 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $767.48 and last traded at $762.38. 88,196 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 621,361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $757.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 target price (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $802.70 and a 200-day moving average of $759.32. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.