Phoenix Financial Ltd. Trims Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lowered its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 52.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 498 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 543 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $700,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,579 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,299,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $83,247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital raised shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,269.06.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s GIP unit is teaming with Temasek and Abu Dhabi-linked investors to target up to $30 billion in infrastructure deals, a sign that the firm continues to expand its alternative-investments platform and fee-earning asset base. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan increased its holdings of BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF by 174%, reinforcing institutional demand for BlackRock’s crypto-linked products and supporting the company’s ETF growth story. Cointelegraph article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is also being highlighted for income-focused ETF demand, with several high-yield iShares funds offering yields above 6%, which may keep assets flowing into its ETF franchise. TipRanks article

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,081.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $167.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,009.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,055.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total transaction of $417,690.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 45,249 shares of company stock worth $47,671,714 in the last quarter. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.