StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.00.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,039.70 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,023.10 and its 200 day moving average is $915.99. The stock has a market cap of $161.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.