BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $621.00 to $582.00 in a research report report published on Friday, BenzingaRatingsTable reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.
Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Argus restated a buy rating and issued a $570.00 target price (up previously from $535.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Co restated a buy rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on BlackRock from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday. ValuEngine upgraded BlackRock from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank reduced their target price on BlackRock from $584.00 to $516.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $521.00.
Shares of BLK stock opened at $357.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $512.47 and a 200 day moving average of $483.20. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $354.01 and a 1 year high of $576.81.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $8.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $7.69 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 30.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 30.99 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $3.63 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.30. This represents a $14.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.98%.
In other BlackRock news, CFO Gary Shedlin sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.49, for a total transaction of $2,285,960.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 46,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.74, for a total value of $25,081,860.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,381 shares of company stock worth $60,691,912 over the last ninety days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 27,355 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,011,000. Bank of Marin acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $261,000. Heard Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,136,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 246,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $82,958,000 after acquiring an additional 17,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.49% of the company’s stock.
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.
