Qsemble Capital Management LP Buys New Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $8,135,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $700,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,239,000 after buying an additional 41,579 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion increased its holdings in BlackRock by 51.5% in the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,299,000 after buying an additional 7,773 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $83,247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,081.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,009.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,055.57. The firm has a market cap of $167.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.44.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,249 shares of company stock worth $47,671,714. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s GIP unit is teaming with Temasek and Abu Dhabi-linked investors to target up to $30 billion in infrastructure deals, a sign that the firm continues to expand its alternative-investments platform and fee-earning asset base. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan increased its holdings of BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF by 174%, reinforcing institutional demand for BlackRock’s crypto-linked products and supporting the company’s ETF growth story. Cointelegraph article
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is also being highlighted for income-focused ETF demand, with several high-yield iShares funds offering yields above 6%, which may keep assets flowing into its ETF franchise. TipRanks article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. CICC Research raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,220.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.06.

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.