BlackRock $BLK is Immersion Capital LLP’s Largest Position

Immersion Capital LLP lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,633 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,910 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 19.6% of Immersion Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Immersion Capital LLP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’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 value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,058.34 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,045.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,051.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.64 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,264.61.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock expanded its digital-assets lineup with the launch of the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA), a covered-call bitcoin income product. That keeps BLK positioned to benefit from continued investor demand for crypto-linked funds and adds another fee-generating product to its ETF franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s CIO Rick Rieder reiterated a constructive long-term view on bitcoin and highlighted that large pools of cash could rotate back into markets, reinforcing the firm’s influence in the crypto and macro conversation. Related coverage also noted strong spot ETF inflows into BlackRock’s IBIT and ETHA products.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-linked HPS Investment Partners participated in a $175 million investment in Behavox, underscoring continued capital deployment through BlackRock’s private-markets and alternatives platform.
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve held rates steady but signaled the possibility of future hikes, a backdrop that can affect fixed-income positioning and asset flows for BlackRock depending on how markets react.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock was mentioned in broader market commentary and stock-screening articles, but those pieces do not appear to add much direct fundamental impact.
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock also reported another round of job cuts, trimming roughly 200 roles globally. While framed as efficiency-focused, layoffs can be read as a sign of ongoing restructuring pressure.

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.