Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $5.26 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 614 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,033.74 and a 200-day moving average of $1,043.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $12.05 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

BlackRock News Roundup

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,304.29.

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.