BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) dropped 0.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $753.96 and last traded at $757.16. Approximately 153,003 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 620,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $762.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $806.88 and its 200-day moving average is $755.19. The firm has a market cap of $112.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $115,000. United Bank grew its holdings in BlackRock by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.