BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CFO Martin Small Sells 1,258 Shares of Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

BlackRock Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of BLK stock traded up $41.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,080.14. 861,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 713,528. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,104.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,083.35. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.59%.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 227,192 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,281,641,000 after acquiring an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,146,663,000 after purchasing an additional 10,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,372.00 to $1,313.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,302.59.

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.