Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 19,414 BlackRock $BLK

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 19,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $18,668,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after purchasing an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $9,747,857,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,705,193,000 after buying an additional 33,752 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $5,876,618,000 after buying an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% in the first quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 5,330,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,126,387,000 after buying an additional 237,667 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bitcoin strategy remains supportive: BlackRock said Bitcoin’s investment case is unchanged despite its recent decline, maintaining that a small allocation—up to 2% of a portfolio—can provide diversification. The comments reinforce confidence in BlackRock’s digital-asset offerings, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Bitcoin’s Investment Case Hasn’t Changed, BlackRock Says
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional interest in IBIT: A filing showed Jane Street held more than $1 billion in spot Bitcoin ETF shares as of June 30, including approximately $828 million in BlackRock’s IBIT. Although the snapshot does not reflect current holdings, it highlights institutional adoption of BlackRock’s crypto ETF. Jane Street Reports Over $1 Billion in Bitcoin ETF Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Technical outlook improved: BlackRock’s 50-day moving average recently moved above its 200-day average, forming a “golden cross,” a signal that can attract momentum-oriented investors. BlackRock Technical Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Income appeal: BlackRock continues to be highlighted as a dividend-paying investment manager with favorable analyst sentiment and potential price-target upside. Dividend Stocks and Income Investing
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio disclosure: BlackRock was identified as a major shareholder of Qiagen, but the regulatory filing primarily reflects an investment holding and does not indicate a material change to BlackRock’s operating outlook. BlackRock Revealed as Major Qiagen Shareholder
• Negative Sentiment: Data-center insurance risk: BlackRock and Meta’s $14 billion Texas data-center project reportedly faces an insurance gap, potentially exposing lenders and investors to substantial losses from catastrophic events. The issue could raise concerns about risk management and financing for large infrastructure investments. Meta and BlackRock Data Center Insurance Risk

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,260.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,155.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.59 and a quick ratio of 3.59. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $179.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,059.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,043.05.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

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.