BlackRock $BLK Stake Trimmed by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,657 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,553 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of BlackRock worth $263,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,145.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,258.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,304.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4%

BLK stock opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,033.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,043.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 15.01%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $12.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 54.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record second-quarter results, with revenue and earnings beating Wall Street estimates and client assets reaching a new high, highlighting strong operating momentum. Blackrock CEO Says Client Demand Has ‘Never Been Greater’ as Assets Reach Record $15.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,300 and kept an outperform view, while other firms also lifted targets after the earnings beat, signaling rising Street confidence. BlackRock price target raised by BMO Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan upgraded BlackRock to overweight/buy-equivalent and Bank of America reiterated a buy rating, citing growth opportunities in tokenization, private markets, direct indexing, and automation-led margin expansion. JP Morgan upgrades BlackRock to buy-equivalent after Q2 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares business surpassed $6 trillion in assets, and Bitcoin ETF inflows continued to support the firm’s fast-growing ETF platform, reinforcing a strong fee-based growth story. BlackRock iShares Surpasses $6 Trillion in Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock’s expanding ownership stakes in other companies and broader market commentary, but these items are not likely to materially move BLK shares on their own.

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.