BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $987.08 on Monday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $152.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,014.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $975.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value 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. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 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.