Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Shares in BlackRock $BLK

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 59,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $56,985,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth about $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth $98,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,167.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.59, a current ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $180.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,077.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,046.77. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $12.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.06.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s newer income-focused ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, compared with 10% for JPMorgan’s JEPQ, while charging the same fee. Strong relative performance could support additional iShares inflows and fee revenue. BlackRock ETF outperformance article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to highlight Bitcoin’s role as “digital gold” and a hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits. Management also sees continued strength in Bitcoin, supporting the long-term case for cryptocurrency-related assets under management. BlackRock Bitcoin hedge case article
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies is integrating its cross-asset execution tools with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform. The partnership may improve Aladdin’s functionality, client retention and potential technology-related revenue. Aladdin integration article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s crypto portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion during August as Bitcoin and Ethereum rallied. The firm is also participating in an Nvidia-led effort tied to AI infrastructure, broadening potential future growth avenues beyond traditional asset management. BlackRock crypto and AI strategy article

BlackRock Company 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.