Fulton Bank N.A. Has $2.78 Million Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Fulton Bank N.A. cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 81.5% during the third 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 period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1 %

BlackRock stock traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $981.93. The company had a trading volume of 238,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,314. The firm has a market cap of $152.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,031.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $937.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Company 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.