BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,160.00 Price Target at Barclays

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,083.92.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $954.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,030.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $942.57. The company has a market cap of $147.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.