BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.46 EPS

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46, Zacks reports. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $856.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $944.81 and its 200-day moving average is $988.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,099.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in BlackRock stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors 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.