BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Bank of America from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 23.10% from the stock’s current price.

BLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4%

BLK stock opened at $1,072.30 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,033.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,043.13. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 15.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $12.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 54.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $985,331,000 after acquiring an additional 7,457 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,196 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,791,000. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,279,000. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 5,764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record second-quarter results, with revenue and earnings beating Wall Street estimates and client assets reaching a new high, highlighting strong operating momentum. Blackrock CEO Says Client Demand Has ‘Never Been Greater’ as Assets Reach Record $15.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,300 and kept an outperform view, while other firms also lifted targets after the earnings beat, signaling rising Street confidence. BlackRock price target raised by BMO Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan upgraded BlackRock to overweight/buy-equivalent and Bank of America reiterated a buy rating, citing growth opportunities in tokenization, private markets, direct indexing, and automation-led margin expansion. JP Morgan upgrades BlackRock to buy-equivalent after Q2 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares business surpassed $6 trillion in assets, and Bitcoin ETF inflows continued to support the firm’s fast-growing ETF platform, reinforcing a strong fee-based growth story. BlackRock iShares Surpasses $6 Trillion in Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock’s expanding ownership stakes in other companies and broader market commentary, but these items are not likely to materially move BLK shares on their own.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.