Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.3 %

BlackRock stock opened at $979.05 on Tuesday. 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 current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,031.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $937.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.08%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 701 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 823 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 533 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. 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.