BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 1.1%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s share price rose 1.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $771.55 and last traded at $765.32. Approximately 189,158 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 616,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $757.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

BlackRock Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $797.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $764.35. The company has a market capitalization of $113.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,057 shares of company stock worth $58,575,704. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. 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.