Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 47.17% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,269.44.

Check Out Our Latest Report on BLK

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $971.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,046.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,050.25. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shum Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 321 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 430 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.8% during the third quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

BlackRock Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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