BlackRock $BLK Holdings Lessened by Convergence Financial LLC

Convergence Financial LLC cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 52.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 486 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,747,857,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $4,409,095,000. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $129,138,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,495,074 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,322,283,000 after buying an additional 850,406 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $807,039,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,275.00 price target (down from $1,300.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,341.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,468.00 to $1,531.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,389.00 to $1,346.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,342.25.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s lower-cost ether ETF offering is positioned as a more economical alternative to Grayscale’s ETHE, potentially helping BlackRock attract assets in the growing crypto-investment market. BlackRock Charges Less Than ETHE to Hold Ether
• Positive Sentiment: Preqin, which is owned by BlackRock, forecasts global private-markets assets under management will exceed $34 trillion by the end of 2031. The outlook highlights a significant long-term growth opportunity for BlackRock’s private-markets and data businesses. Preqin Private Markets Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and SBI Holdings are exploring a yen stablecoin connection for tokenized funds, reinforcing BlackRock’s push into blockchain-based fund distribution and potentially opening new channels for international growth. BlackRock and SBI Explore Yen Stablecoin Link
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed that its holdings in OMV rose above 5%, while its voting stake in ChemoMetec increased above 15%. These filings indicate portfolio repositioning or index-related ownership changes, but they do not directly affect BlackRock’s earnings. BlackRock Raises OMV Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s Jeffrey Rosenberg said Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh may be monitoring whether enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence investments is vulnerable as interest rates and market leadership shift. The comments underscore potential volatility for equities, bonds and crypto assets. BlackRock Executive Discusses the AI Trade
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock reduced its IonQ stake by approximately 1.6 million shares, taking its reported ownership below 5%. While this is not necessarily a company-wide bearish signal, it could raise questions about exposure to speculative technology investments. BlackRock Reduces IonQ Stake

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6%

BLK opened at $1,176.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.59, a current ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,187.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,103.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,063.75. The firm has a market cap of $182.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $15.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.32 by $1.61. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.42 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 24.22%. The company’s revenue was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 57.82 EPS for the current year.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management and financial technology company headquartered in New York. Founded in 1988, the company provides investment, technology and advisory services to institutional and individual investors, governments, foundations and other clients worldwide.

BlackRock offers a broad range of investment products and strategies, including equity and fixed-income funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds through its iShares business, multi-asset portfolios, cash-management products and alternative investments.