BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 0.6%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $823.88 and last traded at $821.19. 58,752 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 597,808 shares. The stock had previously closed at $816.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.73.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $804.21 and its 200-day moving average is $742.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The company has a market capitalization of $124.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 47,042.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 33,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,808,000 after acquiring an additional 32,930 shares during the period. Sara Bay Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $387,000. Aspen Grove Capital LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,758,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.