The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Price Target to $1,313.00

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,372.00 to $1,313.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,302.59.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,041.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $161.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,109.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,080.30. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $11.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.59%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 227,192 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,281,641,000 after purchasing an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,146,663,000 after buying an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.