Analysts Set BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) PT at $1,110.92

Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,108.62.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $1,164.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $572,730,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,075.92. 498,813 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 694,766. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $982.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $969.29. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,086.84. The stock has a market cap of $166.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

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.