BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,224.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.5%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,082.44 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,112.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,006.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $972.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.36 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.9% during the second quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,758,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 26.4% during the second quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 910 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.0% during the second quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,241,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $446,000. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 5,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,595,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during 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.