Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 6,447 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,806 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 6,447 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.07% of BlackRock worth $101,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,430 from $1,393 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing a bullish outlook on the stock. Morgan Stanley raises price target on BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to promote retirement-focused solutions, with its 2026 Read on Retirement survey showing demand for help beyond traditional stock-and-bond portfolios; that supports the firm’s advisory and retirement franchise. BlackRock retirement survey
• Positive Sentiment: Trumid announced a multi-year partnership with BlackRock Aladdin, which could deepen the platform’s reach in fixed-income trading workflows and bolster BlackRock’s technology and enterprise relationships. Trumid partnership with BlackRock Aladdin
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles comparing BlackRock with AMG on value and covering BlackRock ETF yield strategies are mostly informational, but they keep BlackRock’s product lineup in focus for income-oriented investors. AMG or BLK value comparison BALI yield strategy article
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto-market commentary noted defensive positioning in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options and a new yearly low for the fund, which may dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s fast-growing Bitcoin ETF business. Bitcoin options traders hedge downside BlackRock iconic fund hits new yearly low
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock was also mentioned in reports about Bitcoin and Ethereum transfers to Coinbase Prime, which may raise questions about crypto-asset flows, though the impact on BLK itself is unclear. BlackRock sends Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $966.50 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,045.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,049.66. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $150.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.42. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,269.44.

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.