BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,653 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,705,193,000 after buying an additional 33,752 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after acquiring an additional 5,386,640 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,197,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,563,524,000 after acquiring an additional 149,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,838,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,108,968,000 after acquiring an additional 12,019 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,273.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’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 value of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6%

BlackRock stock traded up $16.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,036.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 595,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,052. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,034.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,044.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $160.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 53.9 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.53%.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on BlackRock and maintained an outperform rating, signaling confidence ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays lifted its price target on BlackRock to $1,340 and kept an overweight rating, reflecting expectations for continued business momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Q2 results to benefit from ETF inflows, higher market levels, and growth in assets under management, which could support earnings and revenue.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s newer crypto-related products, including its Bitcoin income ETF and BUIDL tokenized treasury fund, are attracting attention but are not yet a major earnings driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad crypto ETF outflows were reported, though BlackRock’s IBIT was flat, limiting direct negative impact on the company.

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.