BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price Down 1.6%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was down 1.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $748.02 and last traded at $750.48. Approximately 130,973 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 623,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $762.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley upped 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. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.42.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $802.08 and its 200 day moving average is $760.15. The company has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction 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 on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,972,959.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,511 shares of company stock worth $66,778,367 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in 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.