BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Sells $5,738,776.46 in Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Robert Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total transaction of $5,738,776.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,071.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $166.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,093.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,105.72.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The company 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%.BlackRock’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. CICC Research upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,742,680,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,789,915,000 after buying an additional 1,704,280 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $1,012,487,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 842,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock formally expanded into DeFi by listing its tokenized Treasury fund (BUIDL) on Uniswap and enabling on‑chain trading — a strategic move that broadens distribution channels for BlackRock’s digital‑asset products and could support future fee/AUM growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Income and earnings fundamentals: company reporting and corporate actions (recent EPS beat and an increased quarterly dividend to $5.73) provide support for income‑oriented investors and justify parts of the stock’s elevated multiple. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F / portfolio moves: recent SEC filings show large BlackRock fund repositioning (additions to IVV, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN and new sizable positions in tickers like Q, SOLS, LXP) — signals scale and active management but are informational about fund flows rather than an immediate BLK earnings driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine ownership disclosures: filings around a ~5% voting stake in BAWAG Group were posted — standard large‑investor activity with limited direct impact on BlackRock’s core management fees. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Robert Goldstein executed sizeable open‑market sales (Feb. 10–11; Form 4 filed). Large insider sales can weigh on near‑term sentiment even when they’re for diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported private‑credit loss: a WSJ report about a ~$400M loss linked to fake invoices in a BlackRock unit highlights execution and due‑diligence risk in private markets and can pressure the multiple investors assign to alternatives. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto headwinds: weakening crypto prices, ETF outflows and reports that some BlackRock crypto portfolios have trimmed BTC/ETH exposure could limit near‑term AUM and fee growth from digital‑asset offerings despite the Uniswap announcement. Read More.

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.