Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 451,432 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 6,717 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $434,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,258.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,304.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value 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 $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.7%

BLK stock opened at $1,053.78 on Tuesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,033.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,042.61. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $12.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.24 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.78%.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s crypto ETFs saw improving inflows, including fresh demand for IBIT and ETHA, which may support fee growth and reinforce BlackRock’s position as a leading crypto ETF provider.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is leading a $12 billion financing for new Meta data centers in Texas through its infrastructure and private-credit arms, highlighting continued momentum in higher-fee alternative assets.
• Positive Sentiment: The company recently posted record assets under management and strong quarterly results, which continue to support the long-term earnings outlook for BLK.

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.