BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Cut to $1,010.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price reduced by UBS Group from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,096.92.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $879.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $136.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $942.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $988.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

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