BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. BlackRock traded as high as $1,001.63 and last traded at $1,001.63, with a volume of 55069 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $991.72.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BLK. Argus upped their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $991.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after purchasing an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after buying an additional 414,300 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after buying an additional 292,017 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $161,918,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in BlackRock by 174.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 184,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,096,000 after acquiring an additional 117,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $148.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $902.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $832.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

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.