BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,019.62.

Several analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,022.80 on Monday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $742.22 and a 52-week high of $1,068.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $994.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $888.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

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.