BlackRock, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $5.21 (NYSE:BLK)

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 15th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of 5.21 per share by the asset manager on Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%.

BlackRock has raised its dividend by an average of 7.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. BlackRock has a dividend payout ratio of 41.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect BlackRock to earn $54.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $20.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.6%.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $982.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $914.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $978.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

An institutional investor recently raised its position in BlackRock stock. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.