BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,396.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target for BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.10% from its last closing price.
• Multiple brokerages have upgraded BlackRock's stock, with Citigroup and Jefferies Financial Group also raising their price targets, highlighting positive sentiment among analysts.
• BlackRock reported $12.05 earnings per share for the recent quarter, exceeding expectations and showcasing a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.9%.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Bank of America's price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.10% from the company's previous close.

BLK has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,194.86.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $21.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $1,162.35. The company had a trading volume of 310,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 720,451. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,183.50. The firm has a market cap of $179.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,128.09 and a 200-day moving average of $1,024.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 227,192 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after buying an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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