BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 129.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record second-quarter results, with revenue and earnings beating Wall Street estimates and client assets reaching a new high, highlighting strong operating momentum. Blackrock CEO Says Client Demand Has ‘Never Been Greater’ as Assets Reach Record $15.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,300 and kept an outperform view, while other firms also lifted targets after the earnings beat, signaling rising Street confidence. BlackRock price target raised by BMO Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan upgraded BlackRock to overweight/buy-equivalent and Bank of America reiterated a buy rating, citing growth opportunities in tokenization, private markets, direct indexing, and automation-led margin expansion. JP Morgan upgrades BlackRock to buy-equivalent after Q2 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares business surpassed $6 trillion in assets, and Bitcoin ETF inflows continued to support the firm’s fast-growing ETF platform, reinforcing a strong fee-based growth story. BlackRock iShares Surpasses $6 Trillion in Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock’s expanding ownership stakes in other companies and broader market commentary, but these items are not likely to materially move BLK shares on their own.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $917.39 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,033.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,043.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. The business 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 15.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $12.05 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 54.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,304.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’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 owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

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.