BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1%

BLK traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $972.53. The stock had a trading volume of 55,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,970. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $922.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $976.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $572,730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

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.