Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 353 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10 shares during the period. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% in the third 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 position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Citigroup increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE BLK opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market cap of $156.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,026.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $949.91.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

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.