BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading 0.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $998.23 and last traded at $997.10. 88,380 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 689,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $993.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $917.73 and its 200-day moving average is $978.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.81 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $46,284,000. Finally, Blue Square Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,243,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.