BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,082.46.

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $987.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $934.71 and a 200-day moving average of $972.41. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $758.20 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.