PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $349.71 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 363,633 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,013 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $349,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 34 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on 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 cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,037.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,032.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,042.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $12.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.63 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.78%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-led infrastructure vehicles completed the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers and are committing an additional $5 billion in growth capital, reinforcing BLK’s exposure to the AI buildout and alternative-asset fee opportunities. AIP, MGX and BlackRock’s GIP Close Acquisition of Aligned Data Centers
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced monthly July cash distributions across a wide slate of iShares ETFs, underscoring the strength and recurring income appeal of its ETF franchise. BlackRock Canada Announces July Cash Distributions for the iShares ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest in BlackRock’s Ethereum products remains strong, with reports of fresh inflows into ETHA and a new, similar ether fund that adds another monetizable product in digital assets. Forget ETHA. iShares’ Other Ether Fund Is Nearly Identical, Except It Pays You
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Larry Fink’s comments that AI growth is constrained by electricity, plus New York’s data-center moratorium, keep attention on power bottlenecks for the AI infrastructure theme BlackRock is investing behind. Larry Fink Says AI Needs More Electricity. Google Is Trying To Need Less Of It.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s ETF and asset-management announcements, including distribution updates and product coverage, are broadly supportive but not likely to move the stock on their own. BlackRock® Canada Announces July Cash Distributions for the iShares® ETFs
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent headlines note BlackRock reducing a few holdings and broader financial-sector weakness, which may add mild pressure, but these appear less important than the positive infrastructure and ETF news. Major Shareholder Announcement

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.