BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,224.00 at Bank of America

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by analysts at Bank of America from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Bank of America's price target points to a potential upside of 9.83% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BLK. TD Cowen lowered their target price on 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. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $9.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,114.50. The stock had a trading volume of 264,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 700,787. The firm's fifty day moving average is $1,009.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $972.77. The company has a market capitalization of $172.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,118.81. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $30,000. 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.