Madison Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Madison Asset Management LLC cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,918 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,775 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $27,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Shum Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 321 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 430 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $808,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 1,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s crypto ETFs saw improving inflows, including fresh demand for IBIT and ETHA, which may support fee growth and reinforce BlackRock’s position as a leading crypto ETF provider.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is leading a $12 billion financing for new Meta data centers in Texas through its infrastructure and private-credit arms, highlighting continued momentum in higher-fee alternative assets.
• Positive Sentiment: The company recently posted record assets under management and strong quarterly results, which continue to support the long-term earnings outlook for BLK.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,304.29.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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 transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,053.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,033.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,042.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $917.39 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 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.