Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 488 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $33,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $875.92 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $846.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $811.26. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $903.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $883.13.

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.