Kestra Investment Management LLC Sells 20 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Kestra Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after acquiring an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $987.08 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,014.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $975.94. The company has a market cap of $152.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.