Barclays Raises BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $990.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price increased by Barclays from $985.00 to $990.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus increased their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $883.47.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $877.12 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $903.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $854.14 and its 200-day moving average is $813.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $354,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,089,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.