BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $774.00 to $864.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. BlackRock traded as high as $955.01 and last traded at $954.75, with a volume of 114157 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $934.02.

Several other research firms have also commented on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,564 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 100,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $81,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 604 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $883.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $823.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

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.