Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BLK. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. TD Cowen raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.82.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,088.16 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,094.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,086.58.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,644,007,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1,962.0% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 792,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $831,524,000 after purchasing an additional 754,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.