BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.39 EPS

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39, RTT News reports. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.93 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $763.40 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $808.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $752.88. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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, TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of 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. Insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Emerald Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Sara Bay Financial purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $387,000. Hedge funds and other 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.