Insider Selling: BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) COO Sells 54,190 Shares of Stock

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

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $27.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1,055.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,152,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 799,116. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,093.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,106.50. The firm has a market cap of $163.73 billion, a PE ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,269 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,132,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Laurel Oak Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $426,000. Davis R M Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 70 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 28,146 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. CICC Research lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group set a $1,280.00 target price on BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

BlackRock News Roundup

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.