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

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

BLK has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE BLK opened at $1,036.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $984.28 and its 200 day moving average is $880.18. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $724.54 and a twelve month high of $1,068.34. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 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.