Evercore ISI Cuts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,275.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective lowered by Evercore ISI from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on BLK. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $1,209.00 price target (down previously from $1,407.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,303.18.

BlackRock Trading Up 6.0%

NYSE BLK traded up $65.70 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1,157.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,400,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 789,095. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,068.41 and a 200 day moving average of $1,103.49. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total transaction of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Balefire LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $264,000. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $252,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 821 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — revenue of ~$7.01B and EPS above consensus, showing healthy fee growth and driving investor confidence. BlackRock Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Record AUM: BlackRock reported assets under management of about $14 trillion after a quarter of massive inflows — a headline milestone that supports fee revenue visibility and scale advantages. BlackRock Earnings: Company Hits Record $14 Trillion in Assets Behind Strong ETF Flows
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: management announced a 10% dividend increase and new buyback authorization — a direct positive for per-share metrics and investor sentiment. BlackRock Raises Dividend 10% and Announces New Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership fundraising: BlackRock said its JV with Microsoft has raised ~$12.5B toward a $30B target for AI/data-center investments — a growth-area push that signals long-term strategic upside. BlackRock Says AI Partnership Raises $12.5 Billion Toward $30 Billion Goal
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF and product mix: strong ETF and fixed-income inflows powered the quarter (including spot crypto ETF flows), lifting AUM but concentrating growth in fee-sensitive products — positive for scale but could pressure margins long term. BlackRock Total Assets Hit Record $14 Trillion on ETF Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views and targets remain constructive overall (median targets above current levels), supporting sentiment but leaving upside tied to execution. QuiverQuant Coverage & Analyst Targets
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and cash-flow weakness: GAAP net income and operating profit fell year-over-year, and some reports flagged weaker operating cash flow — these metrics create near-term earnings-quality questions despite the top-line beat. BlackRock’s Profit Fell, Assets Hit Record $14 Trillion, in Fourth Quarter
• Negative Sentiment: Conflicting third?party summaries: some data feeds flagged weaker EPS or margin pressure on different accounting bases, which can create short-term headline volatility and trader confusion. QuiverQuant: Revenue Up but EPS Miss; Profit and Cash Flow Weak

About BlackRock

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.