BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in BlackRock by 9.0%, selling 4,876 shares and now owning 49,351 shares valued at approximately $46.7 million.
• CEO Laurence Fink and Director Fabrizio Freda both sold significant shares of BlackRock stock, with Fink selling 12,054 shares for over $13.5 million and Freda selling 4,434 shares for nearly $5 million.
• BlackRock reported a strong quarterly EPS of $12.05, surpassing expectations and indicating a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.9%.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,351 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,876 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in BlackRock were worth $46,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Detalus Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of BLK stock traded down $8.3170 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,127.8030. The company's stock had a trading volume of 522,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,062. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,171.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,074.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $989.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market cap of $174.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.42.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.