Candriam S.C.A. Sells 22,489 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 60.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,880 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 22,489 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,273.33.

Key Stories 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 Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,036.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,034.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,043.73. 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 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 53.96 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors 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 yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 57.53%.

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.