Cetera Trust Company N.A Makes New $2.77 Million Investment in BlackRock $BLK

Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,766,000. BlackRock makes up about 1.4% of Cetera Trust Company N.A’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,260.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.06.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s roughly $965 million investment in Five Below (NASDAQ: FIVE) helped draw attention to its ability to deploy capital into high-growth companies. Five Below also reported strong quarterly results, sending its shares to a record high and potentially highlighting the value of BlackRock’s investment activity. Five Below Stock Soars Following BlackRock Investment
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s covered-call Bitcoin fund reportedly made its first monthly distribution, with an annualized rate of about 18.5%. The product could create a new fee and asset-gathering opportunity, although the high distribution reflects option income and may limit upside participation in Bitcoin. BlackRock Bitcoin Fund Pays First Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock has reiterated that its long-term investment case for Bitcoin remains intact despite a sharp correction. The comments support the firm’s broader digital-asset strategy, but do not directly affect near-term earnings unless they lead to additional fund inflows. BlackRock’s Long-Term Bitcoin Thesis
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine disclosures showed BlackRock subsidiaries’ holdings in Stora Enso fell below 5%, while other reports discussed BlackRock ETFs. These items have limited immediate implications for BLK’s fundamentals. BlackRock Subsidiaries Report Stora Enso Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock is reportedly seeking buyers for approximately $671 million of loans held by TCP Capital, using Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to explore a sale. The move is intended to reshape the private-credit vehicle after a difficult period, but it may raise concerns about credit quality, valuation and execution in BlackRock’s private-markets platform. BlackRock Puts TCP Capital Loans on the Block
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm is soliciting investors who experienced losses in BlackRock mutual funds as part of an investigation into alleged misleading disclosures. The announcement is not a formal finding, but it adds legal and reputational risk. BlackRock Investor Rights Investigation

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,171.83 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,070.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,044.42. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.59 and a quick ratio of 3.59.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $12.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

BlackRock Company 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.