The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $994.00 to $1,115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 6.92% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on BLK. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Argus raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,102.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:BLK traded up $12.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,042.81. The company had a trading volume of 223,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,733. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $161.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $958.92 and a 200 day moving average of $969.49. 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% in the 4th 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 valued at $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $572,730,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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