BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s share price shot up 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $1,042.17 and last traded at $1,041.78. 124,200 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 746,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,029.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,023.82 and a 200-day moving average of $957.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $841,000. Liberty Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,382,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $694,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.