Wells Fargo & Company Cuts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,170.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,104.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $171.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,013.56 and a 200-day moving average of $973.32. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,119.19.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director owned 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $635,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in BlackRock by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,813,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.