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

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) shares traded down 5% on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $1,021.37 and last traded at $1,021.55. 357,910 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 774,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,075.50.

Specifically, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen increased their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. 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.

BlackRock Trading Down 5.4 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,026.43 and a 200-day moving average of $963.86. 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 stock has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.