BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was the target of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, a decline of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 2,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 579,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,039.17.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $14.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,050.00. 989,936 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 589,828. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,019.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $910.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.