BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading 0.5% Higher

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s stock price was up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $830.93 and last traded at $824.53. Approximately 79,779 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 594,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $820.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. BNP Paribas raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.73.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $805.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $742.68. The company has a market cap of $124.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.88%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.