AIA Group Ltd Acquires 1,400 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,033.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,043.13. The stock has a market cap of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $12.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.24 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,304.29.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record second-quarter results, with revenue and earnings beating Wall Street estimates and client assets reaching a new high, highlighting strong operating momentum. Blackrock CEO Says Client Demand Has ‘Never Been Greater’ as Assets Reach Record $15.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,300 and kept an outperform view, while other firms also lifted targets after the earnings beat, signaling rising Street confidence. BlackRock price target raised by BMO Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan upgraded BlackRock to overweight/buy-equivalent and Bank of America reiterated a buy rating, citing growth opportunities in tokenization, private markets, direct indexing, and automation-led margin expansion. JP Morgan upgrades BlackRock to buy-equivalent after Q2 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares business surpassed $6 trillion in assets, and Bitcoin ETF inflows continued to support the firm’s fast-growing ETF platform, reinforcing a strong fee-based growth story. BlackRock iShares Surpasses $6 Trillion in Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock’s expanding ownership stakes in other companies and broader market commentary, but these items are not likely to materially move BLK shares on their own.

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.