Guinness Asset Management LTD Sells 6,906 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management LTD has reduced its stake in BlackRock by 2.6%, selling 6,906 shares, and now holds 256,922 shares, which represents 4.7% of its portfolio.
• BlackRock recently reported earnings with an EPS of $12.05, exceeding analyst expectations, and its revenue rose by 12.9% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 5th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

Guinness Asset Management LTD cut its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 256,922 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,906 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 4.7% of Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Guinness Asset Management LTD owned approximately 0.17% of BlackRock worth $243,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,841 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,561,000 after acquiring an additional 4,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,703,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. Bank of America upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock traded down $9.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $1,114.15. 505,777 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,126. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,115.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,007.82. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%.BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% 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.