Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,160.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 22.52% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BLK. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,083.92.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9 %

BlackRock stock traded down $8.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $946.79. The stock had a trading volume of 255,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,420. The company has a market capitalization of $146.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,030.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $941.35. BlackRock has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.