BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Up 1% After Dividend Announcement

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s stock price shot up 1% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $1,063.96 and last traded at $1,061.71. 110,586 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 764,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,051.20.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,025.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $960.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 3.5% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.