Wells Fargo & Company Cuts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,155.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE BLK opened at $985.59 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,031.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $938.17. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share 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 dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

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

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $115,377,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,148,000 after purchasing an additional 109,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% 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.