BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $844.17.

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $915.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $789.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The firm has a market cap of $117.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $780.75 and its 200-day moving average is $792.72.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 41.25 earnings per share 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 issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

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.