State of Wisconsin Investment Board Sells 2,259 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

State of Wisconsin Investment Board lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 76,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,259 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $81,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after buying an additional 221,123 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,705,193,000 after buying an additional 33,752 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,838,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,108,968,000 after buying an additional 12,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,167,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,374,394,000 after buying an additional 27,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $2,742,680,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s investment team is again talking up bitcoin’s long-term upside, reinforcing the firm’s credibility in digital assets and potentially supporting demand for its crypto-linked products. BlackRock’s Rick Rieder Says Bitcoin Going Higher Long-Term But Cuts IBIT For Tech, Credit, EM Debt
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a covered-call bitcoin ETF under the BITA ticker, adding another income-oriented crypto product to its lineup and showing continued product expansion in a fast-growing category. BlackRock Launches Covered-Call Bitcoin ETF Under BITA Ticker
• Positive Sentiment: Rick Rieder’s comments about roughly $8 trillion to $9 trillion sitting in money-market funds being redeployed could signal a supportive backdrop for risk assets and BlackRock’s asset-gathering franchise. BlackRock’s Rieder Sees ‘Explosive’ Rally as Cash Gets Unlocked
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock said it is cutting about 200 jobs globally, a small but notable efficiency move that may help margins over time, though it also signals ongoing restructuring. BlackRock Sheds Another 200 Jobs, Adopting Regular Cycle of Cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced product and index changes for several iShares ETFs, which is operationally routine and unlikely to move the shares much by itself. BlackRock® Canada Announces Product Changes and Risk Rating Update
• Negative Sentiment: Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked BlackRock and other large investors for details on data-center deals, which could increase regulatory and political pressure around alternative assets and infrastructure investing. Elizabeth Warren Demands Answers From BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR Over Data Center Deals

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,051.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,043.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,051.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.64 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 57.53%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.