Assetmark Inc. Acquires 569 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $26,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shum Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 1,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,072.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,033.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,043.13. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 15.01%. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $12.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.24 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,145.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,304.29.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record second-quarter results, with revenue and earnings beating Wall Street estimates and client assets reaching a new high, highlighting strong operating momentum. Blackrock CEO Says Client Demand Has ‘Never Been Greater’ as Assets Reach Record $15.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,300 and kept an outperform view, while other firms also lifted targets after the earnings beat, signaling rising Street confidence. BlackRock price target raised by BMO Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan upgraded BlackRock to overweight/buy-equivalent and Bank of America reiterated a buy rating, citing growth opportunities in tokenization, private markets, direct indexing, and automation-led margin expansion. JP Morgan upgrades BlackRock to buy-equivalent after Q2 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares business surpassed $6 trillion in assets, and Bitcoin ETF inflows continued to support the firm’s fast-growing ETF platform, reinforcing a strong fee-based growth story. BlackRock iShares Surpasses $6 Trillion in Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock’s expanding ownership stakes in other companies and broader market commentary, but these items are not likely to materially move BLK shares on their own.

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.