BlackRock (BLK) Projected to Post Quarterly Earnings on Friday

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) is anticipated to issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Friday, April 11th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $10.84 per share and revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter. Investors interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect BlackRock to post $47 EPS for the current fiscal year and $54 EPS for the next fiscal year.

BlackRock Trading Up 10.0 %

BLK opened at $897.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $947.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $988.95. The company has a market capitalization of $139.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG 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.

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 paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BLK. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,099.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in BlackRock stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other 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.