71 West Capital Partners Invests $22.49 Million in BlackRock $BLK

71 West Capital Partners bought a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,010 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $22,488,000. BlackRock makes up about 1.0% of 71 West Capital Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,042.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,041.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,051.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $5.73 per share. 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 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 57.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,264.61.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s Rick Rieder said the recent rally in U.S. equities could accelerate as investors shift cash out of the roughly $8 trillion to $9 trillion parked in money market funds, which would support broader asset prices and potentially BlackRock’s fee-generating AUM. BlackRock’s Rieder Sees ‘Explosive’ Rally as Cash Gets Unlocked
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage highlighted BlackRock’s income-oriented ETFs, reinforcing the company’s leadership in fee-collecting investment products and ongoing investor demand for yield. 3 High-Yield BlackRock ETFs Paying 6%+ in Passive Income
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock commentary on AI framed the theme as a multi-year investment cycle rather than a short-term trade, which may support long-duration capital allocation into the firm’s strategies. The AI Trade Is Short-Term. The AI Investment Is a Decade: BlackRock’s Three-Phase Framework
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced product changes and a risk-rating update for five iShares ETFs, mainly reflecting index methodology changes tied to Research Affiliates’ withdrawal of input data. This appears operational rather than financially material. BlackRock Canada Announces Product Changes and Risk Rating Update
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also received another look for NYC’s large pension mandate, but there was no final decision reported yet. BlackRock gets another shot at NYC’s massive pension mandate (updated)
• Negative Sentiment: Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked BlackRock and other infrastructure investors for details on data center deals, adding potential regulatory and political scrutiny around private-markets activity. Elizabeth Warren Demands Answers From BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR Over Data Center Deals
• Negative Sentiment: Separate coverage noted Vanguard gaining while BlackRock shed assets in ETF league tables, which could signal competitive pressure in the asset-management business. ETF League Tables: Vanguard Gains, BlackRock Sheds Assets

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.