BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Down 0.3%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shares fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $777.78 and last traded at $781.41. 75,344 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 603,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $783.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $775.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $791.21. The stock has a market cap of $117.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. 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

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.