Evercore Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,397 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Evercore Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 106,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,397 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 1.6% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $102,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised 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 last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised 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 last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 200.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 968,245 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,304.29.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support points to a potential rebound. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley reportedly encouraged clients to buy BlackRock, suggesting confidence that the stock’s valuation and post-earnings weakness offer further upside. Why Two BlackRock Competitors Told Clients to Buy It
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is backing a $15 million Bitcoin security initiative. The company joined eight other firms in the Bitcoin Security Consortium, highlighting its commitment to cryptocurrency infrastructure and potentially strengthening its long-term digital-asset positioning. Wall Street giants back $15M push to quantum-proof Bitcoin
• Positive Sentiment: Its Nasdaq-100 ETF challenger is attracting inflows. BlackRock’s iShares Nasdaq-100 ETF is gaining assets, supporting fee revenue and distribution scale, even though Invesco’s QQQ remains much larger. BlackRock’s Nasdaq ETF Challenger Is Growing
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to broaden its low-cost ETF lineup. A lower-fee emerging-markets ETF could attract price-sensitive investors and increase assets under management over time, though it may pressure fees on older products. iShares Sells Nearly the Same Emerging Markets for 87% Less
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced final July cash distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF. The distribution is routine and primarily affects fund unitholders rather than BlackRock’s corporate earnings. BlackRock Canada Announces Final July Cash Distributions
• Negative Sentiment: Bitcoin ETF redemptions are a near-term headwind. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced roughly $465 million to $475 million in two-day outflows, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust reportedly leading withdrawals. Continued redemptions could reduce fee revenue and weaken sentiment toward BlackRock’s crypto franchise. Bitcoin ETF Selloff Deepens
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds, alleging materially misleading business information. The announcement is a solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds headline and litigation risk. BlackRock Investor News

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,061.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $164.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.43. 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 has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,029.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,041.14.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 24.09%.The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $12.05 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.63 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

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.