Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 307 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,471 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises about 2.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,227,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $34.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $951.19. 370,167 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,031.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $938.17. The company 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 earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.