BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 0.8%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $769.27 and last traded at $766.27. 102,897 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 623,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $760.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

BlackRock Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $113.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $803.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $759.33.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total value of $2,460,966.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 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.