Independent Financial Group LLC Takes $1.77 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,774,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,072.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,033.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,042.82. The company has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 15.01%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $12.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,304.29.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This trade represents 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.

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.