Nineteen research firms currently cover BlackRock, with fifteen assigning a buy rating and four a hold rating, resulting in a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” Over the past year analysts have set an average 12-month price target of 1,314.71. Recent adjustments include Bank of America raising its target from 1,456.00 to 1,464.00, Goldman Sachs reaffirming a buy rating at 1,313.00, TD Cowen lowering its rating to hold, BMO Capital Markets trimming its objective from 1,300.00 to 1,250.00 while maintaining an outperform rating, and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosting its target from 1,310.00 to 1,340.00.

In its latest quarter BlackRock reported earnings per share of 13.16, beating the consensus estimate of 12.55 by 0.61. Revenue came in at 6.33 billion, below the 6.80 billion forecast, but represented a 23.4% year-over-year increase. Return on equity stood at 15.14% and net margin at 22.93%. Analysts projecting full-year results now anticipate earnings of 47.41 per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock declared a quarterly dividend of 5.73 per share, payable March 24 to stockholders of record as of March 6, representing an annualized payout of 22.92 and a yield of approximately 2.0%. This marks an increase from the prior quarterly dividend of 5.21 and reflects a payout ratio of 58.84%. The ex-dividend date is March 6.

Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares at an average price of 1,125.00 on January 21, reducing his position by 24.4%, while CFO Martin Small disposed of 27,047 shares at 1,171.14 on January 16, cutting his holdings by 71.9%. Over the past 90 days insiders have sold a combined 48,305 shares valued at 55.49 million, with insiders owning 1.98% of outstanding stock. Institutional investors hold 80.69% of the company, with recent notable activity including Pacifica Partners increasing its stake by 450%, TruNorth Capital Management by 1,000%, and Hopwood Financial Services by 866.7% in the third quarter.