Key Points
- Director sale: BlackRock director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares on Feb. 23 for $240,651 (avg $1,069.56), reducing his stake to 5,661 shares (a 3.82% decrease), and he earlier sold 2,179 shares on Feb. 11 for about $2.34M, signaling ongoing insider selling.
- Q4 results: BlackRock beat estimates with EPS of $13.16 (vs. $12.55) and revenue of $7.01B (vs. $6.80B), with quarterly revenue up 23.4% year‑over‑year.
- Dividend increase: BlackRock raised its quarterly dividend to $5.73 (annualized $22.92) with an ex‑dividend date of March 6 and a yield of roughly 2.1%.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.
Stephen Cohen also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, February 11th, Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of BlackRock stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total transaction of $2,339,962.73.
BlackRock Stock Performance
Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $16.72 on Thursday, reaching $1,077.06. 132,543 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 776,437. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,094.29 and a 200 day moving average of $1,104.10. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.
BlackRock Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.84%.
Key BlackRock News
Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group raised shares of BlackRock from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $1,280.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. CICC Research raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.
Get Our Latest Report on BLK
Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $700,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $269,591,000 after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
BlackRock Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.
In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.
Further Reading
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