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

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 39.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on BLK. Barclays cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $16.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $806.59. The company had a trading volume of 763,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,689. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $968.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $992.74. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $125.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 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.