Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 1,315 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,142 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,315 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $67,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $969.56 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $920.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $978.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $150.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.