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

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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

• 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 value of $10,100,000.00.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $4.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,075.83. The stock had a trading volume of 957,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,611. The firm has a market cap of $166.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,025.64 and its 200 day moving average is $960.42. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.