Morgan Stanley Boosts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,430.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised BlackRock’s price target from $1,393 to $1,430 and kept an overweight rating, implying about 47% upside from the previous close.
• Other analysts remain broadly bullish, with multiple firms also lifting targets and BlackRock holding an average Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $1,269.44.
• BlackRock recently topped earnings expectations, reporting $12.53 EPS on $6.70 billion in revenue, while institutional ownership remains high at 80.69% and insiders have sold shares recently.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 47.17% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BlackRock from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.44.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $971.69 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,046.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,050.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,705,193,000 after purchasing an additional 33,752 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 5,330,492 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,126,387,000 after purchasing an additional 237,667 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,232,973 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,032,603,000 after purchasing an additional 35,069 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s retirement survey and commentary are getting attention because they reinforce the firm’s scale in workplace savings and retirement solutions, highlighting a large opportunity for products that help Americans save and invest for retirement. Americans Look Beyond Savings to Turn Retirement Confidence Into Reality, BlackRock Survey Finds
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s continued push into Bitcoin-related investing may support growth in its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), with recent coverage noting the firm’s recommendation that advisors consider a 1% to 2% Bitcoin allocation in portfolios. BlackRock Recommends Bitcoin Allocation in Portfolio Mix
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s announcement of a multi-year partnership between Trumid and Aladdin reinforces the strength of its institutional technology platform and could help deepen client relationships in fixed income workflows. Trumid Announces Multi-Year Partnership with BlackRock Aladdin
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock was mentioned in crypto market analysis showing defensive positioning in IBIT options, signaling that investors are hedging downside risk in the ETF rather than aggressively chasing upside. Bitcoin options traders hedge downside as uncertainty lingers, Anchorage says
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also received routine product and distribution updates, including a Canada cash distribution notice, which are not likely to materially affect the stock. BlackRock Canada Announces Final June Cash Distributions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage says BlackRock shares have been under pressure, with weakness tied partly to broader concerns about private-credit liquidity after redemption limits at some funds raised investor anxiety across the sector. BlackRock shares fall as private-credit redemption fears appear to weigh on sentiment
• Negative Sentiment: Market wrap articles also noted BlackRock’s stock has been trading lower than the broader market recently, which suggests investor caution remains elevated. BlackRock (BLK) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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