UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Upgrades BlackRock to Overweight

Morgan Stanley has published a research report on BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) and has upgraded the stock from Equal-weight to Overweight now that the company's risk/reward model is more attractive.

In the report, Morgan Stanley writes, "We view BLK's business model as uniquely positioned, given industry-leading ETF franchise, and strong presence in alternatives and multi-asset. We believe BLK should trade at a premium to peers in the current volatile backdrop, vs current discount (12.3x vs peers at 13x). Positive catalysts include margin expansion from highly scalable ETFs and continued share repurchases, while regulatory concerns remain a key investor concern."

Morgan Stanley currently has a $219 price target on BlackRock, which is currently trading down $0.53 from yesterday's $163.37 closing price.

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