7,038 Shares in BlackRock $BLK Bought by Aigen Investment Management LP

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,533,000. BlackRock comprises 1.8% of Aigen Investment Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on 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 raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $160.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,039.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,051.37. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.64 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

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.