Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,244 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 0.7% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $330,662,000. FMR LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $115,377,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLK. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,027.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $947.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.