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

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $960.00 to $1,040.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.97% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BLK. TD Cowen lowered their target price on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Argus upped their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $925.07.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BLK traded down $2.88 on Thursday, reaching $954.37. 177,347 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,612. 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 has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $958.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $885.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $824.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Czech National Bank raised its stake in BlackRock by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Weybosset Research & Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 518 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.