Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,126 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,747,857,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during 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 last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% during 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 last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its holdings 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 worth $5,126,387,000 after buying an additional 237,667 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,232,973 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,032,603,000 after acquiring an additional 35,069 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s cryptocurrency portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion in August, while the firm purchased more than $3.1 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum-linked assets over eight days. Rising crypto prices and strong inflows into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs could increase fee revenue and reinforce its position in digital-asset investing. BlackRock cryptocurrency portfolio up by over $15 billion so far in August
• Positive Sentiment: A newer BlackRock ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, outperforming JPMorgan’s popular JEPQ while charging the same fee. Better-performing products may help BlackRock attract assets and expand recurring management fees. BlackRock ETF performance comparison
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies announced integration with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, expanding access to cross-asset execution tools for mutual clients. The agreement supports Aladdin’s reach and could modestly strengthen BlackRock’s technology-related revenue opportunity. Adroit Trading Technologies Aladdin integration
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives continue to describe Bitcoin as a potential hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits and say institutional demand is strengthening. This supports the firm’s broader strategy of positioning its ETFs and investment products around digital assets.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in QIAGEN (QGEN) through a filing with the Dutch financial regulator. The investment may reflect portfolio-management activity, but it is not expected to have a material near-term effect on BLK earnings. BlackRock stake in QIAGEN
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participated in Piramal Finance’s heavily oversubscribed Indian share offering, highlighting continued institutional demand for its investment-management capabilities but providing limited direct impact on BLK’s financial results.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s view that the CLARITY Act is less critical for Bitcoin than for other cryptocurrencies suggests the company expects Bitcoin’s institutional adoption to continue even amid regulatory uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from “strong buy” to “hold,” potentially adding valuation pressure after the stock’s substantial advance and recent proximity to its 52-week high.
• Negative Sentiment: The Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds and allegations of misleading business information. The announcement is not a formal finding of wrongdoing, but it creates legal and reputational overhang for investors. Rosen Law Firm BlackRock investigation

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on BLK shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,258.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,162.58 on Monday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,079.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,047.35. The company has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $12.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.78%.

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.