Morgan Stanley Lowers BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,124.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 39.35% from the company’s previous close.

BLK has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of BLK stock traded down $16.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $806.59. The stock had a trading volume of 763,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,689. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $968.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $992.74.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.