BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $872.29.

A number of research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,978 shares of company stock worth $54,692,570 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.4% during the second quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 2,192 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% during the second quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 1,612 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in BlackRock by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 2,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 37,866 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $862.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $865.17. The company has a market cap of $128.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $797.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $796.17.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

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.