Saudi Central Bank Acquires 4,892 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Saudi Central Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 89.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,892 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.06.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,121.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.59 and a quick ratio of 3.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,092.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,049.39. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $917.39 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $12.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.86 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted approximately $454 million in a single day, accounting for most of the $731 million flowing into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Continued institutional demand could increase BlackRock’s digital-asset assets under management and fee revenue. Bitcoin Spot ETFs See Huge Inflows as BlackRock Takes Lead
• Positive Sentiment: An updated valuation model raised BlackRock’s estimated fair value to $1,320.81 per share from $1,314.44, reinforcing the view that the company’s earnings beat, inflows and margins support additional upside. BlackRock Stock Gets Fair Value Bump
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is seeking to allocate roughly 5% to 20% of target-date funds to private assets, potentially opening a large distribution channel for private equity and private credit products. BlackRock Wants Private Assets in Target-Date Funds
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s support for corporate reincorporation in Texas and its broader tokenization expansion through Securitize could strengthen its positioning in business-friendly and digital-finance markets. BlackRock Casts a Vote of Confidence in Texas

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.