Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $54,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,128.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.59 and a quick ratio of 3.59. The company has a market capitalization of $174.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,041.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,041.48. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. The company’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $12.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 55.63 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.78%.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New Canada ETF combines equities and Bitcoin: BlackRock Canada launched the iShares Equity + Bitcoin ETF Portfolio (IBQT), which allocates approximately 97% to diversified global equities and 3% to Bitcoin through BlackRock’s Canadian iShares Bitcoin ETF. The product could support long-term fee revenue and strengthen BlackRock’s position in the growing digital-asset market. BlackRock launches two Canada ETFs, with one allocating 3% to Bitcoin
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure opportunities expand: BlackRock is reportedly participating in a partnership with Nvidia and other financial firms aimed at mobilizing more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure, including chips, power and data centers. BlackRock also agreed to a roughly $14 billion AI data-center ownership partnership with Meta in El Paso, potentially creating new infrastructure-management and investment opportunities. Nvidia Forms Financial Partnerships to Fuel AI Factory Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Workforce agreement supports infrastructure ambitions: BlackRock, North America’s Building Trades Unions and the AI Infrastructure Partnership signed an agreement focused on staffing data-center and energy projects, supply-chain resilience and domestic economic development. The arrangement may help reduce execution and labor risks for large infrastructure investments. BlackRock Signs Deal With Labor Unions for AI Construction Jobs
• Neutral Sentiment: Bitcoin demand remains supportive but volatile: Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $854 million in combined inflows over five days, led by BlackRock’s IBIT. Strong flows could benefit IBIT-related assets and fees, but cryptocurrency prices and fund demand remain sensitive to interest-rate expectations and upcoming economic data. Bitcoin ETFs Draw $854M Over Five Days as Rate-Hike Bets Fade
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit concerns remain a risk: BlackRock TCP Capital, a managed business development company, is selling a $523 million portfolio of private-credit investments to reduce leverage and strengthen its balance sheet. Although the transaction involves the BDC rather than BlackRock’s corporate balance sheet, it highlights pressure in parts of the private-credit business and could create investor caution. BlackRock Offloads $523 Million in Loans to Rescue Troubled Private Credit Fund

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on BLK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,260.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.06.

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.