BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Research Coverage Started at Barclays

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $985.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Argus increased their target price on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $881.47.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.8 %

BlackRock stock opened at $895.59 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $898.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $834.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $807.21.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.23 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $875.03, for a total transaction of $10,500,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,670,194.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $875.03, for a total transaction of $10,500,360.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,670,194.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 81,042 shares of company stock valued at $68,587,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.