Bennett Associates Wealth Management Sells 24 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bennett Associates Wealth Management reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 0.5% of Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Barclays dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $995.02 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,028.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company has a market cap of $154.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

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.