BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Argus Analyst Says

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by analysts at Argus from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Argus' price target indicates a potential upside of 11.73% from the stock's previous close.

BLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK traded down $6.51 on Tuesday, hitting $975.59. 71,169 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 813,958. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $941.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.08. The company has a market capitalization of $151.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in BlackRock by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,480 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,282 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,314,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WBH Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 1,055 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 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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