Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires Shares of 4,135 BlackRock $BLK

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,135 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,976,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,389.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,155.78 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $179.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,059.83 and a 200-day moving average of $1,043.05.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.The business’s revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $12.05 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.63 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bitcoin strategy remains supportive: BlackRock said Bitcoin’s investment case is unchanged despite its recent decline, maintaining that a small allocation—up to 2% of a portfolio—can provide diversification. The comments reinforce confidence in BlackRock’s digital-asset offerings, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Bitcoin’s Investment Case Hasn’t Changed, BlackRock Says
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional interest in IBIT: A filing showed Jane Street held more than $1 billion in spot Bitcoin ETF shares as of June 30, including approximately $828 million in BlackRock’s IBIT. Although the snapshot does not reflect current holdings, it highlights institutional adoption of BlackRock’s crypto ETF. Jane Street Reports Over $1 Billion in Bitcoin ETF Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Technical outlook improved: BlackRock’s 50-day moving average recently moved above its 200-day average, forming a “golden cross,” a signal that can attract momentum-oriented investors. BlackRock Technical Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Income appeal: BlackRock continues to be highlighted as a dividend-paying investment manager with favorable analyst sentiment and potential price-target upside. Dividend Stocks and Income Investing
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio disclosure: BlackRock was identified as a major shareholder of Qiagen, but the regulatory filing primarily reflects an investment holding and does not indicate a material change to BlackRock’s operating outlook. BlackRock Revealed as Major Qiagen Shareholder
• Negative Sentiment: Data-center insurance risk: BlackRock and Meta’s $14 billion Texas data-center project reportedly faces an insurance gap, potentially exposing lenders and investors to substantial losses from catastrophic events. The issue could raise concerns about risk management and financing for large infrastructure investments. Meta and BlackRock Data Center Insurance Risk

BlackRock Company 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.