Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 620 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,463 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 620 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 227,192 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,281,641,000 after purchasing an additional 34,049 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,789,915,000 after buying an additional 1,704,280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,088.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,092.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,088.31. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given 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 is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,313.65.

BlackRock Profile

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.