BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 688 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of BlackRock worth $131,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $160.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,039.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,051.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’s 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 directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’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 sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,264.61.

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.