BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,407.00 at TD Cowen

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price hoisted by TD Cowen from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,201.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $186.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,138.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,039.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $2,018,000. Allianz SE grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in 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.