BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target Raised to $1,115.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $994.00 to $1,115.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,102.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.8%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,049.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $962.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $969.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $572,730,000. 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.