BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.46 EPS

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.81 EPS.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $879.39 on Friday. 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 cap of $136.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $942.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $987.97.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,096.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in BlackRock stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by 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.