BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BLK. 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $947.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $146.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $994.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $984.14.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $572,730,000. Finally, Amundi purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $528,792,000. 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.