Whittier Trust Co. Sells 670 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 670 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock announced plans to launch the iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ticker IQQ), giving investors low-cost exposure to the Nasdaq-100 and expanding BLK’s lineup in a fast-growing, AI-driven segment of the market. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The new Nasdaq-100 ETF launch could attract assets from investors seeking broad tech and innovation exposure, potentially boosting BlackRock’s fee income and strengthening its position against rivals like Invesco and State Street. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, recorded its first inflow in weeks, signaling renewed investor interest in crypto-linked products after a period of weak or negative flows. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock and Standard Chartered also launched a new Asia-Pacific-focused multi-asset fund, which adds to BLK’s global product footprint but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage highlighted intensifying fee competition in index funds, noting that BlackRock’s low-cost Nasdaq-100 ETF could pressure margins even if it helps drive asset gathering. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader crypto ETF commentary remains cautious, with one report saying U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw large June outflows, which could temper enthusiasm for BLK’s digital-asset product line despite the latest inflow. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,269.44.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $3.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1,007.40. 97,615 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 797,191. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,038.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,045.71.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 53.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. 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.