Morgan Stanley Lowers BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,224.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 10.48% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on BLK. Argus reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.4%

BLK stock traded up $25.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,107.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 911,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,643. The company's fifty day moving average price is $1,006.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $972.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,112.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $635,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,603 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,813,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. 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.