BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $944.49 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $146.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,004.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $979.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.