Alberta Investment Management Corp Boosts Position in BlackRock $BLK

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 317.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $17,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares during the period. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $1,012,487,000. Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in BlackRock by 217.5% in the 3rd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $722,247,000 after buying an additional 424,388 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,070,468 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,216,105,000 after buying an additional 253,314 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,042.08 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,041.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,051.69. The stock has a market cap of $161.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,264.61.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s Rick Rieder said the recent rally in U.S. equities could accelerate as investors shift cash out of the roughly $8 trillion to $9 trillion parked in money market funds, which would support broader asset prices and potentially BlackRock’s fee-generating AUM. BlackRock’s Rieder Sees ‘Explosive’ Rally as Cash Gets Unlocked
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage highlighted BlackRock’s income-oriented ETFs, reinforcing the company’s leadership in fee-collecting investment products and ongoing investor demand for yield. 3 High-Yield BlackRock ETFs Paying 6%+ in Passive Income
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock commentary on AI framed the theme as a multi-year investment cycle rather than a short-term trade, which may support long-duration capital allocation into the firm’s strategies. The AI Trade Is Short-Term. The AI Investment Is a Decade: BlackRock’s Three-Phase Framework
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced product changes and a risk-rating update for five iShares ETFs, mainly reflecting index methodology changes tied to Research Affiliates’ withdrawal of input data. This appears operational rather than financially material. BlackRock Canada Announces Product Changes and Risk Rating Update
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also received another look for NYC’s large pension mandate, but there was no final decision reported yet. BlackRock gets another shot at NYC’s massive pension mandate (updated)
• Negative Sentiment: Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked BlackRock and other infrastructure investors for details on data center deals, adding potential regulatory and political scrutiny around private-markets activity. Elizabeth Warren Demands Answers From BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR Over Data Center Deals
• Negative Sentiment: Separate coverage noted Vanguard gaining while BlackRock shed assets in ETF league tables, which could signal competitive pressure in the asset-management business. ETF League Tables: Vanguard Gains, BlackRock Sheds Assets

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 BlackRock 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 approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.