BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Argus boosted their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $995.31.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $13.17 on Monday, reaching $987.24. 329,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 572,598. BlackRock has a one year low of $600.26 and a one year high of $1,032.00. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $930.84 and a 200 day moving average of $845.90. The company has a market capitalization of $146.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total value of $9,434,479.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,527,116. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 761 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,525,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,292 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,024,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. 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.