Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Position in BlackRock $BLK

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,463 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 620 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,940,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,263,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 368.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 18.0% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,993,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,088.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,092.11 and a 200 day moving average of $1,088.31. The company has a market cap of $168.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. UBS Group began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,180.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,313.65.

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.