Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 4,069 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 61% compared to the average volume of 2,521 call options.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $990.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $147.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $899.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $831.36. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $996.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Argus upped their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $945.00 to $995.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $972.23.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.