Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,097 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.08% of BlackRock worth $118,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $9,747,857,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $4,409,095,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,742,680,000. Finally, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,138,253,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s cryptocurrency portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion in August, while the firm purchased more than $3.1 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum-linked assets over eight days. Rising crypto prices and strong inflows into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs could increase fee revenue and reinforce its position in digital-asset investing. BlackRock cryptocurrency portfolio up by over $15 billion so far in August
• Positive Sentiment: A newer BlackRock ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, outperforming JPMorgan’s popular JEPQ while charging the same fee. Better-performing products may help BlackRock attract assets and expand recurring management fees. BlackRock ETF performance comparison
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies announced integration with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, expanding access to cross-asset execution tools for mutual clients. The agreement supports Aladdin’s reach and could modestly strengthen BlackRock’s technology-related revenue opportunity. Adroit Trading Technologies Aladdin integration
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives continue to describe Bitcoin as a potential hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits and say institutional demand is strengthening. This supports the firm’s broader strategy of positioning its ETFs and investment products around digital assets.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in QIAGEN (QGEN) through a filing with the Dutch financial regulator. The investment may reflect portfolio-management activity, but it is not expected to have a material near-term effect on BLK earnings. BlackRock stake in QIAGEN
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participated in Piramal Finance’s heavily oversubscribed Indian share offering, highlighting continued institutional demand for its investment-management capabilities but providing limited direct impact on BLK’s financial results.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s view that the CLARITY Act is less critical for Bitcoin than for other cryptocurrencies suggests the company expects Bitcoin’s institutional adoption to continue even amid regulatory uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from “strong buy” to “hold,” potentially adding valuation pressure after the stock’s substantial advance and recent proximity to its 52-week high.
• Negative Sentiment: The Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds and allegations of misleading business information. The announcement is not a formal finding of wrongdoing, but it creates legal and reputational overhang for investors. Rosen Law Firm BlackRock investigation

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Bank of America increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

BLK opened at $1,162.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 3.59. The company has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,079.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,047.58.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $12.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 54.78%.

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.