Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective reduced by Bank of America from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BLK. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Saturday, March 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

BlackRock stock opened at $822.38 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $968.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.26.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $572,730,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $528,792,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.