Cibc World Market Inc. Increases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,631 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $74,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Shum Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 321 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 430 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a 5% stake in Kiwi Property Group, signaling continued activity in its institutional investment portfolio and potentially reinforcing confidence in its deal flow and global capital allocation franchise. BlackRock Takes 5% Stake in Kiwi Property Group
• Positive Sentiment: Jio BlackRock plans to give Indian investors access to global BlackRock ETFs via GIFT City, which could expand the firm’s international ETF distribution and long-term assets under management. Jio BlackRock plans access to global BlackRock ETFs for Indian investors via GIFT City
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives remained constructive on markets, with Rick Rieder saying earnings growth and cash moving back into stocks support the bull case, which may help investor sentiment toward the firm’s asset-management outlook. Why BlackRock’s Rick Rieder feels ‘a bit more relaxed’ about AI bull market than dotcom era
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock launched a $25 million Future Builders grant initiative to support skilled trades training; the move is more reputational and philanthropic than immediately material to earnings. BlackRock Future Builders RFP Links Skilled Trades Philanthropy And Client Relations
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also updated ETF methodologies and climate screens in Asia, and lifted its OMV stake above 4%, both of which reflect ongoing portfolio management but are unlikely to move BLK shares on their own. BlackRock Tightens Tracking and Refines Climate Screens for India and Asia ex Japan iShares ETFs BlackRock Lifts OMV Stake Above 4% Threshold
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters report said BlackRock’s Atlas Renewable Energy froze $1 billion in Brazil renewables investments after grid rejection issues, which may raise concerns about delays in part of its infrastructure/energy growth strategy. BlackRock’s Atlas freezes $1 billion in Brazil renewables investments
• Negative Sentiment: Ryanair disclosed that BlackRock cut its stake below 3%, which may be viewed as a modest sign of reduced exposure in one institutional holding. Ryanair Discloses BlackRock Stake Cut Below 3% Threshold

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,220.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.7%

BLK opened at $991.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $153.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.42. 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 is $1,032.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,051.99. 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 released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

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.