BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading 1.4% Higher

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) were up 1.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $792.33 and last traded at $791.70. Approximately 99,070 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 600,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $781.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $116.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $777.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $792.50.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in BlackRock by 208.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is 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.