BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $987.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,014.60 and its 200 day moving average is $975.94. The company has a market cap of $152.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning increased its position in BlackRock by 6.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 46,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,470,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.