BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Receives $1,308.89 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,308.8889.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total value of $5,738,776.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after purchasing an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,705,193,000 after buying an additional 33,752 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after buying an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in BlackRock by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,197,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,563,524,000 after acquiring an additional 149,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,838,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,108,968,000 after acquiring an additional 12,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-backed staked-ETH product and related ETF flows are drawing institutional interest, which can boost fee-bearing AUM and revenue over time. Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis: Can $385M ETF Inflows Spark a Major Rally?
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced March cash distributions for many iShares ETFs — a sign of ongoing product cash flows and client engagement in Canada that supports predictable ETF income and retention. BlackRock® Canada Announces March Cash Distributions for the iShares® ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder publicly backed the Fed’s “patience” on rates and called recent energy-driven inflation spikes “episodic,” messaging that could calm investors and support risk assets (beneficial for asset managers’ flows). BlackRock’s Rick Rieder says Fed ‘patience’ is right call despite $820 billion market rout, oil spike
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/ownership disclosure: BlackRock’s stake in Finnish drugmaker Orion dropped below 5% — a routine portfolio move that has limited direct impact on BLK but is a public holdings change. Orion Corporation: Disclosure Under Chapter 9 Section 10 of the Securities Market Act (BlackRock, Inc.)
• Neutral Sentiment: World Economic Forum governance changes under discussion could consolidate influence among trustees, including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink — reputational/governance risk to monitor but uncertain financial impact. World Economic Forum explores trustee shake-up after scandals
• Neutral Sentiment: Larry Fink’s comments warning AI could worsen unemployment for new graduates reinforce BlackRock’s leadership role in policy debates—important for reputation but not an immediate earnings driver. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warns AI is creating a ‘crisis’ for Gen Z workers
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz launched an investor investigation into BlackRock, which raises potential litigation risk and can increase short-term share-price pressure due to uncertainty and legal costs. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of BlackRock, Inc. – BLK

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $958.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,062.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,086.77. The company has a market cap of $149.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.