BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 62.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,964 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 1.1% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $27,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. 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 cap of $160.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,039.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,051.37. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given 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 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped 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 note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,264.61.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

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.