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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in a research report sent to investors on Friday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,022.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $994.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $888.81. The firm has a market cap of $158.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $742.22 and a 12 month high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 22 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.