BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the September 30th total of 1,800,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 507,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BLK traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $980.60. The stock had a trading volume of 607,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,643. BlackRock has a one year low of $604.41 and a one year high of $1,032.00. The company has a market capitalization of $145.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $937.94 and a 200 day moving average of $849.30. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $37,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $995.31.

Get Our Latest Research Report on BlackRock

About BlackRock

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories