BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $927.71 and traded as high as $1,036.05. BlackRock shares last traded at $1,027.43, with a volume of 591,707 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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 upped their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.00.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $159.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,028.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $927.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after purchasing an additional 46,728 shares during 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.