BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,471 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 307 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for 2.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.5 %

BLK stock traded down $34.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $951.19. 370,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 628,871. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,031.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $938.17. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $147.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

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.