BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,040.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its target price boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $960.00 to $1,040.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a hold rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an overweight rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $925.07.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $951.49 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $958.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.39 billion, a PE ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $888.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $825.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 41.37 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.