BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given New $1,368.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $1,550.00 to $1,368.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BLK. Bank of America increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,298.78.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $957.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,036.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,078.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total value of $5,738,776.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $259,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $617,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in BlackRock by 309.3% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 925 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Filed new Bitcoin income ETF ticker ($BITA): BlackRock amended an S‑1 for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (spot Bitcoin + covered calls), a fee‑generating product likely to attract retail and institutional flows. Blockonomi: BlackRock Files $BITA
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership & ETF positioning: BlackRock elevated Jay Jacobs to lead its Bitcoin trust and highlighted long‑term holding behavior among Bitcoin ETF investors — signals of deeper commitment to crypto products and stewardship. TipRanks: Jay Jacobs Elevated
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional deal flow: Report that BlackRock will partner with GMPF on a £1B NHS property investment points to fee and AUM growth in real assets. Seeking Alpha: GMPF Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 earnings date set for April 14 — event risk/opportunity as investors await fee and flow data. Business Wire: Q1 Earnings Date
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/asset‑allocation shift: BlackRock Investment Institute moved to “neutral” on US and Japanese equities — could temper active‑management flow guidance. DailyHodl: Investment Institute Shift
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic/real‑estate move under consideration: FT reports BlackRock is eyeing HSBC’s Canary Wharf tower for a London HQ — operational but not immediately material to earnings. Reuters: Canary Wharf HQ Reports
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny of private‑credit: House Financial Services Committee has asked private equity firms to reveal private‑credit strategies — increased oversight could pressure fee growth in private markets. Benzinga: Private Credit Scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: ETF trade and insider‑access questions: Reports of a multimillion‑dollar trade tied to a DoD broker prompted internal review and regulatory attention — reputational/compliance risk. Yahoo Finance: Insider Access Questions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor legal risk: Pomerantz has opened an investigation into BlackRock investor claims — potential litigation over disclosures could weigh on sentiment. GlobeNewswire: Pomerantz Investigation

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.