Guinness Asset Management LTD Sells 6,427 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management LTD reduced its BlackRock stake by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,427 shares and leaving it with 210,823 shares worth about $228.8 million.
• BlackRock reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $12.53 beating estimates and revenue of $6.70 billion topping expectations; revenue rose 27% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share, payable June 23, which annualizes to $22.92 per share and yields about 2.1%.

Guinness Asset Management LTD cut its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,823 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,427 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises approximately 3.7% of Guinness Asset Management LTD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD owned approximately 0.14% of BlackRock worth $228,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 863 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,307 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,610,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 550 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,116,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,073.03 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,018.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,054.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.44.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is 57.53%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,054,779.16. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,249 shares of company stock valued at $47,671,714. 1.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of BlackRock from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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