BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Down 0.7%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s share price fell 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $773.88 and last traded at $775.61. 108,933 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 614,981 shares. The stock had previously closed at $780.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $115.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $796.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $768.53.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,987 shares of company stock valued at $55,353,400. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after purchasing an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 77,524.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,211,390,000 after buying an additional 641,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after buying an additional 414,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.