BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 1% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) were up 1% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $1,063.96 and last traded at $1,061.71. Approximately 110,586 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 764,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,051.20.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,025.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $960.42. The company has a market capitalization of $166.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 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.