Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $755,000 Position in BlackRock $BLK

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 786 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,260.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.06.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has processed more than $5 billion in tax-deferred conversions from directly held Bitcoin. Reducing the minimum conversion size from $25 million to $1 million could make the product accessible to more wealthy investors and institutions, potentially supporting assets under management and fee revenue. However, these transactions transfer existing Bitcoin into the ETF rather than representing equivalent new cash inflows. Bitcoin to $100K? BlackRock’s $5B ETF Shift Pulls More BTC Into Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts remain broadly optimistic about BlackRock’s growth prospects and target price, despite the shares’ strong multiyear advance. What Are Wall Street Analysts’ Target Price for BlackRock Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock named Jessica Tan to lead its global product unit, a management change that could influence future product development and distribution but whose financial impact is not yet clear. BlackRock names Jessica Tan to head global product unit
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced final August cash distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF. The announcement is routine and primarily affects fund investors rather than BlackRock’s corporate earnings. BlackRock Canada Announces Final August Cash Distributions
• Negative Sentiment: Rosen Law Firm said it is investigating potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds, alleging that the company may have issued materially misleading business information. The announcement does not establish wrongdoing, but it introduces potential legal, reputational and financial risk. BlackRock Investor News: Rosen Law Firm Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: One valuation review says BlackRock now trades near fair value on intrinsic estimates and looks expensive on earnings multiples after an approximately 82% three-year return, limiting near-term upside unless earnings and fee growth accelerate. BlackRock Stock Looks Fully Valued After an 82% Run

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,174.17 on Thursday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $917.39 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,075.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,045.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 3.59.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $12.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.