Hartline Investment Corp Trims Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp has reduced its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.5% during the second quarter, now owning 2,118 shares valued at approximately $2.22 million.
• In addition, Director Fabrizio Freda and CEO Laurence Fink both sold significant shares on July 24th, with Freda reducing his position by 55.84% and Fink by 5.32%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for BlackRock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $1,300.81.

Hartline Investment Corp lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,118 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 418 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,161.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $179.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $1,140.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,042.27. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

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.

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