BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director Sells $408,229.10 in Stock

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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 transaction 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 Trading Down 1.6 %

BLK stock traded down $15.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $951.24. 1,039,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 843,875. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,000.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $983.89. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,405 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after acquiring an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after acquiring an additional 26,485 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.