Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 16,450 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 318,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 16,450 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.21% of BlackRock worth $342,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings 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 valued at $985,331,000 after buying an additional 7,457 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,572,000 after buying an additional 24,196 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion raised its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $3,791,000. Finally, TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $20,279,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.1%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,051.51 on Friday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,047.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,051.90. 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 $163.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF continues to act as a gateway for new investors into traditional finance, with Jay Jacobs saying roughly three-quarters of IBIT holders had never owned an ETF before. That supports the case for continued asset-gathering strength in BlackRock’s ETF franchise. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock filed for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, a covered-call product aimed at income seekers. The move suggests BlackRock is broadening its crypto ETF lineup and could attract more fee-generating inflows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced June cash distributions for multiple iShares ETFs, reinforcing the company’s large and steady ETF distribution machine, which can be viewed as a sign of recurring product demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock was also highlighted as one of the largest Bitcoin holders, with Arkham data placing it ahead of Binance in BTC count. This reflects the scale of its crypto exposure, but it is more descriptive than fundamentally material on its own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing BlackRock with Blackstone and news about BlackRock entering the active high-yield ETF arena are broadly supportive of its product expansion, but neither article points to an immediate catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One headline noted BlackRock “dumps 1,000 Bitcoin” as BTC struggled to hold the $60,000 level. If sustained, weaker crypto prices could dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s Bitcoin-linked products, though the impact on BLK itself is likely limited. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s 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 transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Company 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.