Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 614 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 614 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $98,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4%

BLK stock opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $166.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,033.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,043.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $12.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 55.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

BlackRock News Summary

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,258.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,304.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.