Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,270 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $54,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in BlackRock by 200.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,128.95 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,041.14 and its 200 day moving average is $1,041.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $174.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $12.05 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New Canada ETF combines equities and Bitcoin: BlackRock Canada launched the iShares Equity + Bitcoin ETF Portfolio (IBQT), which allocates approximately 97% to diversified global equities and 3% to Bitcoin through BlackRock’s Canadian iShares Bitcoin ETF. The product could support long-term fee revenue and strengthen BlackRock’s position in the growing digital-asset market. BlackRock launches two Canada ETFs, with one allocating 3% to Bitcoin
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure opportunities expand: BlackRock is reportedly participating in a partnership with Nvidia and other financial firms aimed at mobilizing more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure, including chips, power and data centers. BlackRock also agreed to a roughly $14 billion AI data-center ownership partnership with Meta in El Paso, potentially creating new infrastructure-management and investment opportunities. Nvidia Forms Financial Partnerships to Fuel AI Factory Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Workforce agreement supports infrastructure ambitions: BlackRock, North America’s Building Trades Unions and the AI Infrastructure Partnership signed an agreement focused on staffing data-center and energy projects, supply-chain resilience and domestic economic development. The arrangement may help reduce execution and labor risks for large infrastructure investments. BlackRock Signs Deal With Labor Unions for AI Construction Jobs
• Neutral Sentiment: Bitcoin demand remains supportive but volatile: Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $854 million in combined inflows over five days, led by BlackRock’s IBIT. Strong flows could benefit IBIT-related assets and fees, but cryptocurrency prices and fund demand remain sensitive to interest-rate expectations and upcoming economic data. Bitcoin ETFs Draw $854M Over Five Days as Rate-Hike Bets Fade
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit concerns remain a risk: BlackRock TCP Capital, a managed business development company, is selling a $523 million portfolio of private-credit investments to reduce leverage and strengthen its balance sheet. Although the transaction involves the BDC rather than BlackRock’s corporate balance sheet, it highlights pressure in parts of the private-credit business and could create investor caution. BlackRock Offloads $523 Million in Loans to Rescue Troubled Private Credit Fund

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.