AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. Buys Shares of 2,305 BlackRock $BLK

AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,467,000. BlackRock makes up about 1.1% of AFT Forsyth & Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $98,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,039.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,051.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $917.39 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were 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 owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,264.61.

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.