BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.39 EPS

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39, RTT News reports. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $763.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $808.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $752.88. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in BlackRock by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after acquiring an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,178,048,000 after purchasing an additional 104,844 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,148,586,000 after buying an additional 35,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after buying an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.29.

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.