BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,245.00 at Morgan Stanley

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $991.46.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $991.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $902.62 and a 200 day moving average of $832.46. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $1,001.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 638 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 315.8% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 844 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,560,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.