BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director Sells 10,000 Shares

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $10.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,016.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 645,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 799,756. The firm has a market cap of $157.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,025.37 and a 200-day moving average of $951.85.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. 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.