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

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

BLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $932.71.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $949.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $890.01 and a 200-day moving average of $826.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $960.74. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in BlackRock by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 47,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,833,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 27,277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,900,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,932,000 after buying an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its stake in BlackRock by 12.1% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 2,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,920,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.