BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a report released on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $947.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $977.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $992.68. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $147.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 11,283 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,713,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 57,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,979,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $5,792,000. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.