BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1 %

BLK stock opened at $1,016.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. 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 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, 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 19.9% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 6,300.0% during the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 28,527 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,460,000 after purchasing an additional 10,706 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.