BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.57 EPS

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.24 by $0.57, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.93 EPS.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $785.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $809.38 and a 200 day moving average of $751.41. The company has a market cap of $117.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $845.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $796.00.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in BlackRock by 56.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 64 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $48,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.