BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Robert Goldstein Sells 54,190 Shares

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Robert Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.5%

BLK opened at $1,055.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,093.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,106.15.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $11.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 450.0% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a first?of?its?kind institutional DeFi integration by listing its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) on Uniswap and buying UNI tokens — a move that broadens BlackRock’s digital?assets distribution channels and signals new product reach and potential fee/asset flows. BlackRock enters DeFi, taps Uniswap for institutional token trading
• Neutral Sentiment: SEC 13F disclosures and fund updates show large portfolio repositioning by BlackRock’s funds (big additions to IVV, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN and new sizable positions in tickers like Q, SOLS, LXP) — illustrates active asset management scale but is informational for fund flows rather than an immediate company earnings signal. Fund Update: BlackRock, Inc. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/ownership notices: BlackRock’s voting stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group was recently disclosed around the 5% threshold (movements reported both up and slightly down across entities) — a routine large?investor disclosure with limited direct impact on BLK’s core business. BlackRock Raises Voting Stake in BAWAG Group to 5.77%
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Robert L. Goldstein executed large open?market sales on Feb. 10–11 (totaling ~59k shares, SEC Form 4 filed) — sizable insider sales can pressure sentiment and raise investor questions even if sales are for diversification or tax reasons. SEC Form 4 disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of portfolio and product risk: WSJ reports a $400M loss tied to fake invoices at a BlackRock unit’s private?credit position, highlighting execution and due?diligence risks in its private markets business — a reputational and P&L headline that can weigh on valuation multiple. How Fake Invoices Duped BlackRock Unit Into a $400 Million Loan
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto headwinds: crypto market weakness and reporting that BlackRock has pared Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure in some crypto portfolios could reduce near?term AUM and fee growth in digital?asset products and dampen enthusiasm from the earlier Uniswap announcement. Major Institutional Shift? Bitcoin And Ethereum Are Steadily Leaving BlackRock’s Crypto Portfolio

About BlackRock

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.