BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,200.00 at Citigroup

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.00.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE BLK opened at $1,039.70 on Monday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,023.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $915.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.6% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 603 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 55.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,496,000 after buying an additional 10,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management grew its position in BlackRock by 6.6% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 1,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.