Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Increases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,535 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 253 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for 2.2% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $35,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,500.0% in the second quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 64 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 40.4% in the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 121.8% in the second quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% during the second quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 10,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,576,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 223 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,213.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,129.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,027.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,183.50.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

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.