SEB Asset Management AB Buys New Stake in BlackRock $BLK

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 34,157 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $32,849,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,258.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Bank of America increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,072.30 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,033.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,042.82. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The firm’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $12.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.24 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.78%.

BlackRock News Roundup

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.

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.