BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) rose 1.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $1,042.17 and last traded at $1,041.78. Approximately 124,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 746,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,029.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $959.65. The firm has a market cap of $165.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 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.