Insider Selling: BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Director Sells 17,142 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• BlackRock Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company at an average price of $1,120.50, totaling over $19.2 million, which represents a 21.83% decrease in his stock holding.
• BlackRock's quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share of $12.05, exceeding expectations of $10.41, and marked a 12.9% revenue increase year-over-year with $5.42 billion in revenue.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $5.21 on September 23rd, reflecting a 1.9% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 50.39%.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $14.72 on Friday, reaching $1,091.29. 672,794 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 784,464. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.66. The business's 50-day moving average is $1,038.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $980.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.