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

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

BLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $932.71.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BLK opened at $949.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $960.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $890.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $826.67.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 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.