BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Up 1% – What’s Next?

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) traded up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1,063.96 and last traded at $1,061.71. 110,586 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 764,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,051.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,024.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $958.99. The stock has a market cap of $163.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 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.