ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Boosts Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• ABN AMRO Bank N.V. increased its BlackRock stake by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, adding 7,564 shares and bringing its total holding to 102,562 shares valued at about $109.7 million.
• BlackRock reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $12.53 beating estimates and revenue of $6.70 billion topping expectations, while revenue grew 27% year over year.
• Despite positive analyst sentiment and a consensus Moderate Buy rating, BlackRock saw notable insider selling, including CEO Larry Fink and President Robert Kapito reducing their holdings in late April.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,562 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. owned 0.07% of BlackRock worth $109,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th 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. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is drawing interest from investors after reports highlighted its new Aladdin private credit features with Preqin, which could strengthen its data and analytics offering in a growing market and support future asset-management revenue. BlackRock (BLK) Valuation Check As New Aladdin Private Credit Features With Preqin Draw Focus
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Larry Fink’s push for clearer crypto and tokenization rules, along with comments that “compute futures” could become a new asset class, reinforces BlackRock’s reputation as an innovation leader in digital assets and next-generation markets. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Demanding Crypto Regulations. Here's What It Means for Investors.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s ETF franchise continues to be highlighted as a major competitive advantage, with articles pointing to lower fees, scale, and liquidity benefits that could keep supporting inflows into iShares products. BlackRock Touts ETFs as Liquidity Antidote to Private Exposure
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s philanthropic $30 million Texas workforce initiative may improve brand and public relations, but it is unlikely to move the stock materially in the near term. BlackRock Launches Signature Philanthropic Initiative in Texas with $30M Commitment to Grow Electrical Workforce
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports that BlackRock cut the value of parts of its private credit portfolio, including markdowns tied to software borrowers, are a reminder that credit risk remains elevated in a softer lending environment. BlackRock cut private credit fund's value by 5% in first quarter
• Negative Sentiment: News that a BlackRock Asia private credit fund is trying to recover money from a defaulted China loan adds to concerns about underwriting quality and credit performance in the firm’s private markets business. BlackRock Fund Faces Test in Recovering Defaulted China Loan

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,083.38 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $168.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $1,006.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,056.97.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company's revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,220.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,269.06.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 230,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 106,911 shares of company stock valued at $114,670,698. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.