BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 342 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,258.56.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,184.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,134.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,035.56.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

About BlackRock

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.