BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,063.00.

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $115,377,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $320,148,000 after purchasing an additional 109,771 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,054.28 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,026.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $921.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $163.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.