Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases 1,226 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its stake in BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in BlackRock by 106,934.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in BlackRock by 200.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,054.61 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,029.48 and its 200 day moving average is $1,041.50. The stock has a market cap of $163.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.43. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 15.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $12.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 55.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.78%.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share, reinforcing confidence in the firm’s cash generation and shareholder returns. BlackRock Declares Quarterly Dividend of $5.73 on Common Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest in BlackRock’s ETF franchise remains strong, with reports highlighting continued momentum in iShares and the recovery in Bitcoin ETF inflows led by IBIT. BlackRock (BLK) Could Be 21% Below Fair Value As Dividend Signals Confidence BlackRock’s IBIT Leads Nearly $1B Bitcoin ETF Recovery as Inflows Hit 7 Straight Days
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is also being tied to large-scale growth opportunities, including a reported $12.3 billion bond financing for Meta’s Texas AI data facility, underscoring its reach in capital markets and infrastructure finance. BlackRock (BLK) Markets $12.3B in Bonds for Meta’s Texas AI Data Facility
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a larger stake in Qiagen, raising its voting power to 13%; this is notable for BlackRock’s portfolio activity, but it is not a direct catalyst for BLK earnings. BlackRock builds 11.6% stake in Qiagen, lifting voting power to 13%
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock joined other firms in a $15 million Bitcoin security consortium focused on quantum-resistant protections, a long-term strategic initiative with limited immediate financial impact. BlackRock, Coinbase and Strategy Pledge $15M to Quantum-Proof Bitcoin
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage noted bond investors demanding higher yields on the Meta-linked financing deal, which may reflect increased caution around AI infrastructure risk and could slightly pressure sentiment around BlackRock’s role in the transaction. Bond investors demand higher yields on BlackRock AI-linked financing deal

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,389.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,304.29.

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.