BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,495 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $985,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,196 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,299,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $3,791,000. Finally, TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,279,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s ETFs were included in the Treasury’s approved lineup for Trump Accounts, potentially expanding assets and visibility for the firm’s flagship products. Reference
• Positive Sentiment: Articles highlighted continued analyst optimism around BlackRock’s earnings setup, with expectations that the company could beat estimates again when it reports next quarter. Article: Will BlackRock (BLK) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: Tokenized versions of BlackRock’s IVV ETF were launched by Ondo Finance under SEC guidance, reinforcing BlackRock’s relevance in the growing onchain asset market. Article: BlackRock (BLK) Stock Fair Value Edges Higher As Analysts Debate Earnings And Flows
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also disclosed a small reduction in its voting stake in Umicore, but the filing appears routine and unlikely to materially affect BLK shares. Article: Umicore – Transparency notification by BlackRock, Inc.
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto headlines were mixed, with Bitcoin ETF outflows and broader crypto weakness offset by growing demand for BlackRock’s tokenized BUIDL product. Article: Yield-bearing stablecoin slowdown ends three-year run for crypto-native products

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.44.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $994.50 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,038.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,045.97. 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 stock has a market cap of $154.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.64 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 53.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 57.53%.

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.