BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Trading Down 5% After Insider Selling

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)’s share price dropped 5% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $1,021.37 and last traded at $1,021.55. Approximately 357,910 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 774,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,075.50.

Specifically, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. 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 can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 5.4 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,026.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $963.86. The company has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 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 dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.