Brokerages Set BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) PT at $1,039.17

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,040.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Sunday, December 15th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of BLK stock traded up $12.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,028.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,079,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,482. The company has a market cap of $159.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,023.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $914.21. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its stake in BlackRock by 20.6% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 603 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 55.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,958 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $27,496,000 after purchasing an additional 10,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management lifted its stake in BlackRock by 6.6% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 1,140 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.