BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,514.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $1,486.00 to $1,514.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,390.00 to $1,322.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,316.18.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,059.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,082.73 and a 200-day moving average of $1,090.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.59%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total transaction of $1,312,572.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an Overweight rating, supporting demand expectations and giving BLK near-term analyst support. Morgan Stanley note
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada cut management fees on several core iShares ETF portfolios (effective Dec. 18), which should help competitiveness and could lift AUM/flows in Canada. Fee cut press release
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains generally constructive: multiple recent buy/overweight ratings and above-consensus price targets point to continued analyst conviction in BLK’s long-term earnings power. Analyst notes summary
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock signed an MoU with Mastercard and others to promote blockchain adoption in the Middle East — a strategic partnership that’s incremental for growth but not immediately material to earnings. PYMNTS article
• Neutral Sentiment: Eni sold a 49.99% stake in its carbon capture unit to GIP (BlackRock’s infrastructure fund) giving joint control — a sign of GIP deal activity and infrastructure exposure but limited immediate impact on BLK’s public earnings. Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative valuation pieces (e.g., IVZ vs BLK) are circulating but don’t change fundamentals; useful for allocators weighing expense/return trade-offs. Zacks comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank issued a pessimistic forecast for BLK’s stock, which likely contributed to selling pressure from model/quant funds and some institutional rebalancing. Deutsche Bank note
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced expectations for BLK, adding to the negative analyst noise and pressuring sentiment. KBW note
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto flows: large spot-Bitcoin ETF inflows were reported (helpful) but BlackRock also moved BTC/ETH to exchanges for redemptions, sparking market volatility and headlines blaming BLK for short-term crypto declines — this fuels risk-off in ETFs and hurt sentiment. Blockonomi NewsBTC
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling activity has been reported recently, which can amplify downside as it raises governance/flow concerns among some investors. QuiverQuant insider summary

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.