BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, a decline of 13.9% from the December 15th total of 1,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 662,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.33.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE BLK traded up $8.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,004.23. 1,079,196 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 610,586. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,027.33 and its 200-day moving average is $947.28. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

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.