BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $77,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $985,331,000 after buying an additional 7,457 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the 3rd 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 period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 360,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $420,873,000 after buying an additional 29,449 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,572,000 after buying an additional 24,196 shares during the period. Finally, Sienna Gestion increased its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% in the 3rd 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 period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,031.45 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $160.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,039.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,051.60.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,264.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.