BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Cut to $988.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,046.00 to $988.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on BLK. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $891.02 on Monday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $939.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $987.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $572,730,000. 80.69% of the stock is 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.