BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,093.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,104.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,013.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $973.32. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,119.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after buying an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,072,787,000 after buying an additional 190,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after buying an additional 26,485 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.