UBS Group Cuts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $837.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $842.00 to $837.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and set a $915.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $844.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $828.04 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $787.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $793.09. BlackRock has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $845.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 41.27 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during 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.