BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $35,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $98,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,039.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,051.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its 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 firm 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%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Key BlackRock News

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

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,264.61.

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.