By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, a decline of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 2,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 579,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.
BlackRock Trading Down 1.4 %
BLK traded down $14.65 on Tuesday, reaching $1,050.00. 989,936 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 589,828. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $162.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,019.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $910.97. BlackRock has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.
BlackRock Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,039.17.
View Our Latest Report on BlackRock
Insider Activity at BlackRock
In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 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.
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