BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Cut to $988.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,046.00 to $988.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bank of America reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $891.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $939.58 and a 200 day moving average of $987.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $399,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 31.8% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently 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.