BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price Down 0.1%

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) were down 0.1% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $820.05 and last traded at $823.79. Approximately 71,773 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 601,774 shares. The stock had previously closed at $824.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $122.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $803.63 and a 200 day moving average of $741.11. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 55.88%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently 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.