BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday. The firm issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen boosted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of BLK opened at $955.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,030.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $939.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jacobs & Co. CA purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,502,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 156.6% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.