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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research note published on Friday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE BLK opened at $1,020.19 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The company has a market capitalization of $158.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,024.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $954.96. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.