JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 9.44% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,126.92.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $11.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $955.81. 246,688 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,971. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $976.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $993.09. The company has a market cap of $148.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.1% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 302 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 4,990 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,228 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.