BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Short Interest Update

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, a decrease of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 2,140,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 579,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, 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 value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,039.17.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.0 %

BlackRock stock opened at $1,049.16 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,019.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $910.97. The stock has a market cap of $162.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

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.