BlackRock $BLK Position Increased by DNB Asset Management AS

DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,627 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $31,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,146,663,000 after acquiring an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,213,561 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,414,854,000 after acquiring an additional 143,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 913,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,580,000 after acquiring an additional 39,412 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital upgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,269.06.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s GIP unit is teaming with Temasek and Abu Dhabi-linked investors to target up to $30 billion in infrastructure deals, a sign that the firm continues to expand its alternative-investments platform and fee-earning asset base. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan increased its holdings of BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF by 174%, reinforcing institutional demand for BlackRock’s crypto-linked products and supporting the company’s ETF growth story. Cointelegraph article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is also being highlighted for income-focused ETF demand, with several high-yield iShares funds offering yields above 6%, which may keep assets flowing into its ETF franchise. TipRanks article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,249 shares of company stock valued at $47,671,714. 1.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,081.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $167.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,009.21 and its 200-day moving average is $1,055.57. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock 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.