Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,803,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the second quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Israel Discount Bank of New York raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Israel Discount Bank of New York now owns 594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. CAPROCK Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CAPROCK Group Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Architects Inc raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Architects Inc now owns 482 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $636.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $714.75 and a 200-day moving average of $680.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.99. The company has a market capitalization of $95.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $503.12 and a 1-year high of $788.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The asset manager reported $8.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.99 by $0.94. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 28.97%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 34.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be paid a $5.00 dividend. This represents a $20.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 575 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $689.06, for a total value of $396,209.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,670 shares in the company, valued at $3,217,910.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 575 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $689.06, for a total value of $396,209.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,670 shares in the company, valued at $3,217,910.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 390 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $756.26, for a total value of $294,941.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,295,024.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,839 shares of company stock worth $3,578,947. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on BlackRock from $821.00 to $813.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $741.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $785.00 to $828.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $540.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $740.92.

BlackRock Profile

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BlackRock, Inc engages in providing investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Its products include single and multi-asset class portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, alternatives, and money market instruments. The company was founded by Susan L.