BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,300.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,263.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,156.20 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,135.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,037.02. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,184.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.