California Public Employees Retirement System Has $316.45 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,427 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 14,490 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of BlackRock worth $316,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 817 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.0% in the third quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 460 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 938 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Launch of iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) expands BlackRock’s crypto product lineup and produced a solid debut (~$15.5M day?one volume), a positive revenue/flows catalyst if assets scale. BlackRock’s New Staked Ethereum ETF (ETHB) Sees ‘Very, Very Solid’ $15.5 Million Debut, Says Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto market coverage notes whale ETH accumulation alongside the ETHB launch — bullish for BlackRock’s digital asset distribution and potential fee/flow growth. Ethereum (ETH) Sees Major Whale Buying as BlackRock Launches Staked ETF Product
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction to BlackRock CIO calls (and related portfolio positioning) has helped lift some sector indices (clean energy) — indicative of the firm’s market influence and potential to drive ETF flows. Clean Energy Index Jumps 61% After BlackRock CIO’s Contrarian Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory disclosures show BlackRock holds ~10–11% capital/voting stakes in Qiagen — a standard large?holder filing that is notable but not an immediate company revenue driver. BlackRock Reports 10.6% Capital and 11.8% Voting Stake in Qiagen
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced index/methodology changes to three CAD?hedged iShares funds — routine product updates with limited near?term impact on BLK’s consolidated results. BlackRock® Canada Announces Product Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Private?credit stress: reporting that Morgan Stanley and BlackRock capped/limited withdrawals in some private?credit vehicles has pressured asset managers and sparked concerns about redemptions, markdowns and fee revenue risk. This is a near?term negative for BLK if private?credit flows and valuations deteriorate. Exclusive: Morgan Stanley and BlackRock limit withdrawals—is private credit gating a crisis or market ‘stabilizer’?
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: coverage highlights a BLK share pullback alongside weakness in private?credit peers, signaling investor concern about the sector’s spillover to large asset managers. BlackRock Stock Slide As Private Credit Firms Tumble
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation alert: Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of BlackRock investors — potential legal/PR risk that could distract management and create uncertainty. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of BlackRock, Inc. – BLK

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen downgraded BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,308.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at $6,054,779.16. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total value of $5,738,776.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.0%

BLK stock opened at $922.79 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,075.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,092.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $143.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.71%.

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.