BlackRock, Inc. (BLK): An Insider Invested Over $1.2 Million

Other asset managers include Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM), State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW). Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) is actually unprofitable on a trailing basis, though the sell-side expects the company to recover fairly quickly and so the forward earnings multiple is a fairly respectable 14. The most recent data shows that 12% of the float is held short. State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) and Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) carry small discounts to BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in terms of their trailing earnings. State Street has been struggling a bit in terms of revenue- which was up only 1% in its most recent quarter compared to the same period in the previous year. Franklin appears to be operating at a decent level of performance, but that company’s numbers for Q1 have not come in yet and so we’d be careful of directly comparing its most recent results to those for BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) as we saw that company’s revenues had dipped.T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) has been recording the most impressive results: in Q4 2012 revenue grew 17% from a year ago and net income was up by 23%. However, the market is already pricing in the highest growth out of this peer group resulting in a trailing P/E of 22.

BlackRock looks like it could be about fairly valued if it continues to grow at current rates, given its current pricing, or possibly even a bit cheap. With the insider purchase potentially reflecting informed optimism about the company, value investors may want to look at the stock in more detail as well as at Franklin Resources.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.