BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,004.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,027.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $946.18. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.