BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Now Covered by StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $147.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $980.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $987.70.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors 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.