BlackRock $BLK Holdings Raised by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 65.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,149 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 45,753 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.07% of BlackRock worth $111,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $16.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,036.18. The stock had a trading volume of 595,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,052. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,034.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,044.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 53.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,240.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,273.33.

BlackRock News Roundup

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 Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value 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 $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.