Insider Selling: BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Sells $58,920,245.10 in Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Robert Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total value of $58,920,245.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,071.59 on Friday. 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 has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,093.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,105.72. The company has a market capitalization 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $700,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in BlackRock by 8.2% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,591,000 after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

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.