BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

BLK stock opened at $814.71 on Friday. BlackRock has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $955.01 and its 200 day moving average is $989.88. The firm has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.