Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in BlackRock $BLK

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 33,912 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $32,609,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,167.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $180.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,077.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,046.77.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $12.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s newer income-focused ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, compared with 10% for JPMorgan’s JEPQ, while charging the same fee. Strong relative performance could support additional iShares inflows and fee revenue. BlackRock ETF outperformance article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to highlight Bitcoin’s role as “digital gold” and a hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits. Management also sees continued strength in Bitcoin, supporting the long-term case for cryptocurrency-related assets under management. BlackRock Bitcoin hedge case article
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies is integrating its cross-asset execution tools with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform. The partnership may improve Aladdin’s functionality, client retention and potential technology-related revenue. Aladdin integration article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s crypto portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion during August as Bitcoin and Ethereum rallied. The firm is also participating in an Nvidia-led effort tied to AI infrastructure, broadening potential future growth avenues beyond traditional asset management. BlackRock crypto and AI strategy article

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.