BlackRock $BLK Holdings Cut by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 421,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,286 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises about 2.6% of London Co. of Virginia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $451,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9%

BLK opened at $1,051.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,043.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,051.76. The company has a market cap of $163.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s top investment executive, Rick Rieder, said Bitcoin is “ultimately going considerably higher,” reinforcing the firm’s bullish stance on digital assets and potentially boosting sentiment around BlackRock’s crypto-linked business opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock remains in focus as a large asset manager with a steady dividend profile, with its next quarterly payout due soon, which can appeal to income-focused investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced product changes and risk-rating updates for several iShares ETFs, reflecting routine portfolio maintenance and index transitions rather than a major business shift.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock commentary on AI, private markets, and a broader market rotation out of cash, which may support the long-term investment case but do not directly change near-term fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock is cutting nearly 200 jobs globally, part of a continued “rightsizing” effort tied to efficiency and growth initiatives; while modest in scale, the repeated layoffs may signal management is still trimming costs aggressively.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,264.61.

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.