California Public Employees Retirement System Has $249.02 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 242,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,303 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $249,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $947.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $978.66 and a 200-day moving average of $992.24. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.