CICC Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective increased by analysts at CICC Research from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. CICC Research’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BLK. TD Cowen downgraded BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group set a $1,280.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $18.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,101.10. The stock had a trading volume of 48,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,677. The company has a market cap of $170.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,090.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,108.35. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $11.93 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $215,000. Berger Financial Group Inc raised its position in BlackRock by 6.2% in the second quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 343 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.2% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 763 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.