Parkside Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Parkside Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 203 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after purchasing an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $6.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $949.14. 248,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 651,343. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,030.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $941.35.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,065.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.