BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,045.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1 %

BLK stock opened at $1,016.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $157.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,025.37 and its 200 day moving average is $951.85. BlackRock has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year 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, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.