BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. trimmed its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,397 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $38,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,838,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,108,968,000 after acquiring an additional 12,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,167,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,374,394,000 after buying an additional 27,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $2,742,680,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,070,468 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,216,105,000 after buying an additional 253,314 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. One 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 MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $160.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.32 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 current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,039.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,051.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

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.