Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $44.32 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,158 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $44,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,389.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,033.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,043.13. 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 has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.BlackRock’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $12.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

BlackRock News Roundup

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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s 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 value of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’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 value of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock 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.