Insider Selling: BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director Sells 430 Shares of Stock

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

J. Richard Kushel also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, January 30th, J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $967.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $998.43 and its 200 day moving average is $983.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.