Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $68.86 Million Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.2%, owning 65,628 shares worth approximately $68.86 million.
• Insider transactions included CEO Laurence Fink selling 12,054 shares for about $13.57 million, while Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares valued at nearly $4.98 million.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,628 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in BlackRock were worth $68,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 51,192 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $52,475,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Armis Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,131.86 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,121.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,015.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

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.

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