UPDATE: Nomura Equity Research Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on BlackRock

In a report published Friday, Nomura Equity Research reiterated its Buy rating on BlackRock

, and raised its price target from $231.00 to $255.00. Nomura Equity Research noted, “In 4Q, BLK saw AUM rise 3% q/q to $3.8T, $47B of net LT flows (~5.5% organic growth), revenues up 9%, adj. margins expanded 190 bps to 42.6%, upped its dividend (~3% yield), and performance is strong. For the year, AUM grew 8%, margins were over 40%. The capital return story at BlackRock remains solid, as the company ended the year with a total payout of 104% including 9.1m of share buybacks. BLK does have some levers to keep the momentum going (investments in alternatives starting to pay off, fixed income ETFs are growing, turnaround in active equity, continued advisory growth, strong flows in retirement channel, and don't forget ETF flows so far YTD). We like the stock as we believe the BlackRock story remains intact with strong positioning and legitimate growth drivers, good expense control (~40.4% 2012 adj. margins) and steady capital return.” BlackRock closed on Thursday at $232.00.