Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 6,706 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 286,789 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,706 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 1.2% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned approximately 0.19% of BlackRock worth $293,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $572,730,000. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $343,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $916.68. 450,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,305. The company has a market cap of $142.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $917.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $982.44. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $748.78 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About BlackRock

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.