BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,362.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,222.87.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,179.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $182.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,184.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,130.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,030.30. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.