BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,269.0556.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, CICC Research boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Read Our Latest Report on BlackRock

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,019.74 on Friday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $158.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,030.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,053.05.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283,208 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after purchasing an additional 968,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

BlackRock Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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Analyst Recommendations for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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