BlackRock $BLK Holdings Lifted by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,232,973 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,069 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 3.37% of BlackRock worth $5,032,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after acquiring an additional 968,245 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major AI infrastructure venture expands BlackRock’s growth profile. BlackRock-managed funds will own an 80% stake in a roughly $14 billion, 1-gigawatt data-center campus in El Paso, Texas, while Meta retains 20% and leases the facility. BlackRock is contributing approximately $4.9 billion in cash and arranged about $12.3 billion to $12.5 billion of project debt. The deal strengthens BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS platforms and could generate long-duration management, financing and infrastructure-related fees. Reuters Meta BlackRock data center article
• Positive Sentiment: Alternative assets continue to broaden beyond traditional funds. Influence Media Partners agreed to acquire substantially all of Anthem Entertainment’s music publishing, film and television assets, and master recordings for more than $600 million in collaboration with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock affiliates. The transaction highlights BlackRock’s push into intellectual-property and private-market investments. Influence Media Anthem acquisition article
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings disclosed BlackRock’s 11.61% capital interest and 13.04% voting stake in QIAGEN, along with a 5.3% position in IonQ and indirect holdings in Stora Enso. These disclosures may attract attention but generally reflect portfolio or client-account activity rather than a direct change to BlackRock’s earnings outlook. BlackRock QIAGEN stake article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about valuation and deal-related risks. BlackRock’s shares appear fully valued after strong multiyear gains and record inflows. The Meta transaction also exposes the company to substantial project-financing, data-center obsolescence and residual-value risks, even though much of the debt sits at the venture level. Broader anxiety over aggressive AI spending and weaker technology stocks may be weighing on sentiment toward the partnership.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BlackRock from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,082.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,030.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,041.27.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $12.05 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 54.78%.

About BlackRock

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.