Wells Fargo & Company Increases BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,175.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $995.02 on Thursday. 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 $154.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,028.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $944.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.