Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Sells 7,423 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 33.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,925 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,423 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,430 from $1,393 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing a bullish outlook on the stock. Morgan Stanley raises price target on BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to promote retirement-focused solutions, with its 2026 Read on Retirement survey showing demand for help beyond traditional stock-and-bond portfolios; that supports the firm’s advisory and retirement franchise. BlackRock retirement survey
• Positive Sentiment: Trumid announced a multi-year partnership with BlackRock Aladdin, which could deepen the platform’s reach in fixed-income trading workflows and bolster BlackRock’s technology and enterprise relationships. Trumid partnership with BlackRock Aladdin
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles comparing BlackRock with AMG on value and covering BlackRock ETF yield strategies are mostly informational, but they keep BlackRock’s product lineup in focus for income-oriented investors. AMG or BLK value comparison BALI yield strategy article
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto-market commentary noted defensive positioning in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options and a new yearly low for the fund, which may dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s fast-growing Bitcoin ETF business. Bitcoin options traders hedge downside BlackRock iconic fund hits new yearly low
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock was also mentioned in reports about Bitcoin and Ethereum transfers to Coinbase Prime, which may raise questions about crypto-asset flows, though the impact on BLK itself is unclear. BlackRock sends Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $966.50 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,045.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,049.66.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

BlackRock Company 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.