BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Reaches New 52-Week High at $855.00

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $855.00 and last traded at $849.90, with a volume of 82168 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $836.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $872.29.

BlackRock Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $794.99 and its 200 day moving average is $795.23. The firm has a market cap of $127.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,978 shares of company stock valued at $54,692,570 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $205,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by 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.