BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Modera Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 55,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,214 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $53,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,876,618,000 after buying an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its position in BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after acquiring an additional 968,245 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,033.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,043.13. 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $12.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 54.72 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record second-quarter results, with revenue and earnings beating Wall Street estimates and client assets reaching a new high, highlighting strong operating momentum. Blackrock CEO Says Client Demand Has ‘Never Been Greater’ as Assets Reach Record $15.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,300 and kept an outperform view, while other firms also lifted targets after the earnings beat, signaling rising Street confidence. BlackRock price target raised by BMO Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan upgraded BlackRock to overweight/buy-equivalent and Bank of America reiterated a buy rating, citing growth opportunities in tokenization, private markets, direct indexing, and automation-led margin expansion. JP Morgan upgrades BlackRock to buy-equivalent after Q2 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares business surpassed $6 trillion in assets, and Bitcoin ETF inflows continued to support the firm’s fast-growing ETF platform, reinforcing a strong fee-based growth story. BlackRock iShares Surpasses $6 Trillion in Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock’s expanding ownership stakes in other companies and broader market commentary, but these items are not likely to materially move BLK shares on their own.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

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.