BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39, RTT News reports. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $763.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $808.88 and a 200-day moving average of $752.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased 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 valued at $3,181,346,000 after buying an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in BlackRock by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in BlackRock by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,148,586,000 after acquiring an additional 35,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,006,490,000 after acquiring an additional 58,681 shares in 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.