JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $971.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $914.00 to $971.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $995.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $154.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,028.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $944.29. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.