StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage set a "hold" rating on the asset manager's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $920.81 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $919.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $982.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $748.78 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 22,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,963,649 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in BlackRock by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,532,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently 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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