BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 63.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,390 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after purchasing an additional 221,123 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,146,663,000 after purchasing an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,213,561 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,414,854,000 after purchasing an additional 143,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 913,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,064,580,000 after purchasing an additional 39,412 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,083.05, for a total transaction of $2,166,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $67,127,439. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 45,249 shares of company stock valued at $47,671,714 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered BlackRock from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,269.06.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock said 3.6% credit yields could help cushion market volatility, reinforcing the case for staying invested in fixed income and highlighting continued demand for income-generating products. BlackRock Says 3.6% Credit Yields Could Cushion Market Volatility
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to expand its tokenized-money-market push, including BUIDL and new collateral-use cases with Standard Chartered and OKX, which strengthens BlackRock’s positioning in digital assets and tokenized finance. BlackRock Tests Tokenized Collateral As AI And Crypto Reshape Markets
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s large new 13F-reported positions, including fresh stakes in multiple names and continued accumulation in tokenization-related holdings, suggest active deployment of capital and may be seen as evidence of strong institutional conviction. Fund Update: BlackRock, Inc. Just Disclosed New Holdings

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,094.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $170.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,007.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,055.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.