BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Cantillon Capital Management LLC

Cantillon Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 453,282 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 60,970 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises approximately 2.9% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $435,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KBC Group NV grew its position in BlackRock by 4.4% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,313 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,803,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $32,849,000. World Equity Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 9,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,304.29.

Key Stories 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 Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,072.30 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,033.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,042.82. 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 has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 54.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate 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.