BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $932.71.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $949.19 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $890.01 and a 200 day moving average of $826.67. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $960.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. 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 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

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.