BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after purchasing an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 33,752 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,197,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,563,524,000 after buying an additional 149,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,838,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,108,968,000 after buying an additional 12,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on BlackRock and maintained an outperform rating, signaling confidence ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays lifted its price target on BlackRock to $1,340 and kept an overweight rating, reflecting expectations for continued business momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Q2 results to benefit from ETF inflows, higher market levels, and growth in assets under management, which could support earnings and revenue.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s newer crypto-related products, including its Bitcoin income ETF and BUIDL tokenized treasury fund, are attracting attention but are not yet a major earnings driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad crypto ETF outflows were reported, though BlackRock’s IBIT was flat, limiting direct negative impact on the company.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,036.18 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,034.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,043.73. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $160.60 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 53.96 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 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, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,273.33.

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.