Morgan Stanley Lowers BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,368.00

by · The Markets Daily

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $1,550.00 to $1,368.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 42.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. Evercore dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,298.78.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on BlackRock

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $961.10 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $149.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,039.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,079.27.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total transaction of $5,738,776.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 over the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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About BlackRock

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BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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