Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,653 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,240.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,273.33.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $16.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,036.18. 595,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 794,052. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,034.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,044.04. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.64 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 53.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on BlackRock and maintained an outperform rating, signaling confidence ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays lifted its price target on BlackRock to $1,340 and kept an overweight rating, reflecting expectations for continued business momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Q2 results to benefit from ETF inflows, higher market levels, and growth in assets under management, which could support earnings and revenue.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s newer crypto-related products, including its Bitcoin income ETF and BUIDL tokenized treasury fund, are attracting attention but are not yet a major earnings driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad crypto ETF outflows were reported, though BlackRock’s IBIT was flat, limiting direct negative impact on the company.

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.