BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in a report issued on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $16.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $930.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 360,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 891,264. 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 company has a market capitalization of $144.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $978.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $992.24.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 11,283 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,713,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 57,902 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $54,979,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,792,000. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.