BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of BLK traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $845.15. The stock had a trading volume of 140,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,623. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $789.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $793.14. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $848.62. The firm has a market cap of $125.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Argus increased their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $872.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,181,346,000 after purchasing an additional 749,654 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 77,524.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,211,390,000 after purchasing an additional 641,128 shares during the period. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.