Madison Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Madison Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $985,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares during the period. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $20,279,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 5,764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in BlackRock by 94.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 26,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,720,000 after purchasing an additional 13,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $82,488,000 after buying an additional 2,522 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s 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. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was 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 directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

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.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,053.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,033.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,042.61.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,145.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,304.29.

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.