Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $167.49 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 126,111 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.10% of BlackRock worth $167,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,705,193,000 after acquiring an additional 33,752 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,838,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,108,968,000 after acquiring an additional 12,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,167,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,374,394,000 after acquiring an additional 27,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,742,680,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,039.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,051.60. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,264.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value 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 trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock 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.