Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 171,740 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 858,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 171,740 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $918,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $985,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,239,000 after buying an additional 41,579 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 51.5% in the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,299,000 after buying an additional 7,773 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,572,000 after buying an additional 24,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 8.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 360,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $420,873,000 after buying an additional 29,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,269.06.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a 5% stake in Kiwi Property Group, signaling continued activity in its institutional investment portfolio and potentially reinforcing confidence in its deal flow and global capital allocation franchise. BlackRock Takes 5% Stake in Kiwi Property Group
• Positive Sentiment: Jio BlackRock plans to give Indian investors access to global BlackRock ETFs via GIFT City, which could expand the firm’s international ETF distribution and long-term assets under management. Jio BlackRock plans access to global BlackRock ETFs for Indian investors via GIFT City
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives remained constructive on markets, with Rick Rieder saying earnings growth and cash moving back into stocks support the bull case, which may help investor sentiment toward the firm’s asset-management outlook. Why BlackRock’s Rick Rieder feels ‘a bit more relaxed’ about AI bull market than dotcom era
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock launched a $25 million Future Builders grant initiative to support skilled trades training; the move is more reputational and philanthropic than immediately material to earnings. BlackRock Future Builders RFP Links Skilled Trades Philanthropy And Client Relations
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also updated ETF methodologies and climate screens in Asia, and lifted its OMV stake above 4%, both of which reflect ongoing portfolio management but are unlikely to move BLK shares on their own. BlackRock Tightens Tracking and Refines Climate Screens for India and Asia ex Japan iShares ETFs BlackRock Lifts OMV Stake Above 4% Threshold
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters report said BlackRock’s Atlas Renewable Energy froze $1 billion in Brazil renewables investments after grid rejection issues, which may raise concerns about delays in part of its infrastructure/energy growth strategy. BlackRock’s Atlas freezes $1 billion in Brazil renewables investments
• Negative Sentiment: Ryanair disclosed that BlackRock cut its stake below 3%, which may be viewed as a modest sign of reduced exposure in one institutional holding. Ryanair Discloses BlackRock Stake Cut Below 3% Threshold

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $991.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $153.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,032.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,051.99. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders 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 2.3%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.53%.

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.