Strong Tower Advisory Services Has $2.67 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,004.23 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,027.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $947.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Profile

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.