Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases 7,362 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 349.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,362 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $994.50 on Friday. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,038.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,045.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 53.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s ETFs were included in the Treasury’s approved lineup for Trump Accounts, potentially expanding assets and visibility for the firm’s flagship products. Reference
• Positive Sentiment: Articles highlighted continued analyst optimism around BlackRock’s earnings setup, with expectations that the company could beat estimates again when it reports next quarter. Article: Will BlackRock (BLK) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: Tokenized versions of BlackRock’s IVV ETF were launched by Ondo Finance under SEC guidance, reinforcing BlackRock’s relevance in the growing onchain asset market. Article: BlackRock (BLK) Stock Fair Value Edges Higher As Analysts Debate Earnings And Flows
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also disclosed a small reduction in its voting stake in Umicore, but the filing appears routine and unlikely to materially affect BLK shares. Article: Umicore – Transparency notification by BlackRock, Inc.
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto headlines were mixed, with Bitcoin ETF outflows and broader crypto weakness offset by growing demand for BlackRock’s tokenized BUIDL product. Article: Yield-bearing stablecoin slowdown ends three-year run for crypto-native products

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted 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. TD Cowen lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,269.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock 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. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is owned by company 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.