BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Down 0.2%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s stock price fell 0.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $760.38 and last traded at $761.49. 97,801 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 619,189 shares. The stock had previously closed at $762.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $802.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $761.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48. The stock has a market cap of $113.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baxter Bros Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 519 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 45,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,795,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 685 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.