Morgan Stanley Boosts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,261.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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 upped their target price 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, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,040.50.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,028.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,023.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $915.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $159.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. 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 1.98%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade 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 through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.