BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI decreased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $98,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,036.18 on Monday. 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 has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,034.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,043.73. The stock has a market cap of $160.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 53.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 is accessible through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock News Summary

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. 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 research report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,273.33.

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.