BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 731 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Trading Up 2.1%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,147.8720 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,086.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.76.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

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.