Kestra Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,820 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,820 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,240.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,273.33.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

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 Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BLK traded up $16.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,036.18. The company had a trading volume of 595,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,052. The firm has a market cap of $160.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,034.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $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 has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.64 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 53.96 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.