BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,269.0556.

Several analysts recently commented on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is drawing interest from investors after reports highlighted its new Aladdin private credit features with Preqin, which could strengthen its data and analytics offering in a growing market and support future asset-management revenue. BlackRock (BLK) Valuation Check As New Aladdin Private Credit Features With Preqin Draw Focus
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Larry Fink’s push for clearer crypto and tokenization rules, along with comments that “compute futures” could become a new asset class, reinforces BlackRock’s reputation as an innovation leader in digital assets and next-generation markets. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Demanding Crypto Regulations. Here’s What It Means for Investors.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s ETF franchise continues to be highlighted as a major competitive advantage, with articles pointing to lower fees, scale, and liquidity benefits that could keep supporting inflows into iShares products. BlackRock Touts ETFs as Liquidity Antidote to Private Exposure
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s philanthropic $30 million Texas workforce initiative may improve brand and public relations, but it is unlikely to move the stock materially in the near term. BlackRock Launches Signature Philanthropic Initiative in Texas with $30M Commitment to Grow Electrical Workforce
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports that BlackRock cut the value of parts of its private credit portfolio, including markdowns tied to software borrowers, are a reminder that credit risk remains elevated in a softer lending environment. BlackRock cut private credit fund’s value by 5% in first quarter
• Negative Sentiment: News that a BlackRock Asia private credit fund is trying to recover money from a defaulted China loan adds to concerns about underwriting quality and credit performance in the firm’s private markets business. BlackRock Fund Faces Test in Recovering Defaulted China Loan

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,083.05, for a total transaction of $2,166,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,127,439. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 106,911 shares of company stock worth $114,670,698. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its holdings in BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,083.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $168.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,006.83 and its 200-day moving average is $1,056.97.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

About BlackRock

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.