Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,787 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,307,000. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $568,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,057 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $16,144,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.8%

BlackRock stock traded up $18.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,049.35. The company had a trading volume of 799,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,738. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $962.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $968.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $994.00 to $1,115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,102.08.

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.