BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Short Interest Down 13.9% in December

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, a decrease of 13.9% from the December 15th total of 1,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 662,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $8.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,004.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,079,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,586. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,027.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $947.28. 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 company has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 491 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $1,124,000. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its position in BlackRock by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,037 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $279,000. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 431 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

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.

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