BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Down 1.6%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s share price dropped 1.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $748.02 and last traded at $750.48. Approximately 130,973 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 623,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $762.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $112.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $803.50 and a 200-day moving average of $759.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total value of $2,669,833.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,378 shares in the company, valued at $54,972,959.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 70,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,972,959.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 644 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 2,817 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 41,161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,316,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,516 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.