Garner Asset Management Corp Sells 568 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Garner Asset Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,440 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 568 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 0.8% of Garner Asset Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.42.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $8.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $757.67. 498,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 611,017. The company has a market cap of $112.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.34. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $845.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $779.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $789.84.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

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.