BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 268,031 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,883 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of BlackRock worth $217,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 5.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,849 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,412 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,998,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 4,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,693 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total transaction of $2,460,966.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $5.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $765.49. 93,405 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 623,260. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $804.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $758.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

BlackRock 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.