BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives $874.07 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $874.07.

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $882.84 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $885.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The firm has a market cap of $131.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $828.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $805.18.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 41.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 81,042 shares of company stock valued at $68,587,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.