Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has raised its price target for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) from $1,200 to $1,230, maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 5.96% from the stock's previous close.
• JPMorgan Chase, TD Cowen, and Jefferies Financial Group have also increased their price targets for BlackRock, with Jefferies setting a new target at $1,325 and offering a "buy" rating.
• Despite positive analyst upgrades, BlackRock's stock experienced a 0.4% decline recently, trading at $1,160.83 with significant trading volume reported.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Evercore ISI's price target indicates a potential upside of 5.96% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,258.13.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BLK traded down $4.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1,160.83. 40,306 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 714,337. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,184.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,132.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,032.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $179.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.36 EPS. BlackRock's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $674,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in BlackRock by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 471 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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