JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BLK. Barclays reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

BlackRock Stock Down 7.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $822.38 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $968.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $991.65. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $127.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,496,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.