BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives $1,083.92 Average PT from Analysts

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,103.33.

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $995.02 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a market capitalization of $154.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,028.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $944.29. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.