5,240 Shares in BlackRock $BLK Bought by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,609,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in BlackRock by 217.5% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $722,247,000 after buying an additional 424,388 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in BlackRock by 29,043.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 245,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,748,000 after buying an additional 244,253 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after buying an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in BlackRock by 39.5% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 547,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $645,354,000 after buying an additional 154,907 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,081.49 on Monday. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $167.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,009.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,055.04. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s GIP unit is teaming with Temasek and Abu Dhabi-linked investors to target up to $30 billion in infrastructure deals, a sign that the firm continues to expand its alternative-investments platform and fee-earning asset base. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan increased its holdings of BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF by 174%, reinforcing institutional demand for BlackRock’s crypto-linked products and supporting the company’s ETF growth story. Cointelegraph article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is also being highlighted for income-focused ETF demand, with several high-yield iShares funds offering yields above 6%, which may keep assets flowing into its ETF franchise. TipRanks article

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,249 shares of company stock valued at $47,671,714. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,269.06.

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.