BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC

Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,119 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted 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 position 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 valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised 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 buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,064.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,024.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $958.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.