Midway Capital Research & Management Purchases Shares of 2,131 BlackRock $BLK

Midway Capital Research & Management bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,281,000. BlackRock accounts for 2.2% of Midway Capital Research & Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,264.61.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF continues to act as a gateway for new investors into traditional finance, with Jay Jacobs saying roughly three-quarters of IBIT holders had never owned an ETF before. That supports the case for continued asset-gathering strength in BlackRock’s ETF franchise. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock filed for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, a covered-call product aimed at income seekers. The move suggests BlackRock is broadening its crypto ETF lineup and could attract more fee-generating inflows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced June cash distributions for multiple iShares ETFs, reinforcing the company’s large and steady ETF distribution machine, which can be viewed as a sign of recurring product demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock was also highlighted as one of the largest Bitcoin holders, with Arkham data placing it ahead of Binance in BTC count. This reflects the scale of its crypto exposure, but it is more descriptive than fundamentally material on its own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing BlackRock with Blackstone and news about BlackRock entering the active high-yield ETF arena are broadly supportive of its product expansion, but neither article points to an immediate catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One headline noted BlackRock “dumps 1,000 Bitcoin” as BTC struggled to hold the $60,000 level. If sustained, weaker crypto prices could dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s Bitcoin-linked products, though the impact on BLK itself is likely limited. Article Title

BlackRock Stock Up 0.1%

BLK opened at $1,051.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $163.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,047.92 and a 200 day moving average of $1,051.90.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’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 transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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.