Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 512 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 512 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.2% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 950.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 126 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 342 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $313,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 329.4% in the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 846 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.7%

BLK stock opened at $971.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $150.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $759.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $937.84 and a 200-day moving average of $972.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.