BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,077.08.

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $989.39 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $916.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $978.04. The firm has a market cap of $153.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $572,730,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.