Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.22% from the stock’s previous close.

BLK has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,130.85.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $963.82 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $975.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $149.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $572,730,000. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $528,792,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.