Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,329 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up about 1.4% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $167,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Evercore decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,264.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was 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 owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% 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 Stock Up 0.7%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,017.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $157.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,038.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,051.51. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is expanding its ETF lineup with new thematic products, including a space-focused fund in Europe/UK and a planned income-paying Bitcoin ETF, reinforcing its leadership in fast-growing areas of asset management. How Investors Are Reacting To BlackRock (BLK) Expanding Into Space ETFs And Digital Assets
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock is seeking to buy at least $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares highlight its willingness to back high-profile alternative assets and could support fee-generating opportunities if the deal moves forward. BlackRock seeks to buy at least $5 billion in SpaceX IPO shares, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to dominate Bitcoin ETF flows with Fidelity, suggesting its crypto products are capturing the bulk of investor demand in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market. BlackRock and Fidelity Dominate U.S. Bitcoin ETF Flows
• Neutral Sentiment: The Supreme Court’s ruling shielding investment funds from some shareholder lawsuits is broadly supportive for the asset-management industry, though the direct impact on BlackRock is limited. Supreme Court Shields Investment Funds From Shareholder Lawsuits
• Neutral Sentiment: Financial stocks were firmer in afternoon trading, creating a generally supportive backdrop for BlackRock, although the move appears driven by sector rotation rather than company-specific news. Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Late Afternoon
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage noted BlackRock’s crypto portfolio declined by more than $12 billion early in June and that its Bitcoin holdings were sold while Ethereum was accumulated, which could raise questions about near-term digital-asset mark-to-market performance. BlackRock crypto portfolio falls by over $12 billion in early June

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.