StockNews.com Begins Coverage on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a report issued on Friday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,022.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $994.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $888.81. 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 fifty-two week low of $742.22 and a fifty-two week high of $1,068.34. The company has a market cap of $158.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.