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

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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 transaction of $10,100,000.00.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.4 %

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

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,003.7% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $624,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,199,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 4,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,613,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.