BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,300.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BLK. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,221.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,201.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,138.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,039.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $2,644,007,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,962.0% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 792,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $831,524,000 after purchasing an additional 754,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. 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.