UBS Group Boosts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $850.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $818.00 to $850.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and set a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $802.29.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $763.40 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $808.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $753.65. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $113.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,181,346,000 after buying an additional 749,654 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,178,048,000 after purchasing an additional 104,844 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,148,586,000 after purchasing an additional 35,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after buying an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.