Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. decreased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,753 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Manske Wealth Management boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Manske Wealth Management now owns 345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Gibson Capital LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Gibson Capital LLC now owns 308 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 230 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s cryptocurrency portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion in August, while the firm purchased more than $3.1 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum-linked assets over eight days. Rising crypto prices and strong inflows into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs could increase fee revenue and reinforce its position in digital-asset investing. BlackRock cryptocurrency portfolio up by over $15 billion so far in August
• Positive Sentiment: A newer BlackRock ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, outperforming JPMorgan’s popular JEPQ while charging the same fee. Better-performing products may help BlackRock attract assets and expand recurring management fees. BlackRock ETF performance comparison
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies announced integration with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, expanding access to cross-asset execution tools for mutual clients. The agreement supports Aladdin’s reach and could modestly strengthen BlackRock’s technology-related revenue opportunity. Adroit Trading Technologies Aladdin integration
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives continue to describe Bitcoin as a potential hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits and say institutional demand is strengthening. This supports the firm’s broader strategy of positioning its ETFs and investment products around digital assets.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in QIAGEN (QGEN) through a filing with the Dutch financial regulator. The investment may reflect portfolio-management activity, but it is not expected to have a material near-term effect on BLK earnings. BlackRock stake in QIAGEN
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participated in Piramal Finance’s heavily oversubscribed Indian share offering, highlighting continued institutional demand for its investment-management capabilities but providing limited direct impact on BLK’s financial results.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s view that the CLARITY Act is less critical for Bitcoin than for other cryptocurrencies suggests the company expects Bitcoin’s institutional adoption to continue even amid regulatory uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from “strong buy” to “hold,” potentially adding valuation pressure after the stock’s substantial advance and recent proximity to its 52-week high.
• Negative Sentiment: The Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds and allegations of misleading business information. The announcement is not a formal finding of wrongdoing, but it creates legal and reputational overhang for investors. Rosen Law Firm BlackRock investigation

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Weiss Ratings cut BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,162.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,079.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,047.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 3.59.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% 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 in the previous year, the company earned $12.05 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 55.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

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.