BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets upgraded BlackRock to a "strong-buy" rating, highlighting increasing confidence in the company's stock.
• Despite the upgrade, other analysts have mixed opinions, with UBS maintaining a "neutral" rating and Zacks Research downgrading to "hold," indicating a varying outlook on BlackRock's stock performance.
• BlackRock's recent earnings report exceeded expectations, revealing an EPS of $12.05 and a revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, up 12.9% from last year.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

BLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,213.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.0%

BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,129.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,027.68. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,183.50.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 17.2% in the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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