BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,090.00 Price Target at Argus

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price upped by Argus from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $968.90 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $942.61 and a 200 day moving average of $971.07. The stock has a market cap of $150.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,307,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,455,000 after purchasing an additional 15,505 shares during the 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.