Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 12,400 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its BlackRock position by 317.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,400 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 16,300 shares worth about $17.4 million.
• BlackRock insiders sold shares recently, with CEO Laurence Fink selling 33,900 shares and President Robert Kapito selling 8,739 shares, reducing their ownership stakes.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on BlackRock, with several firms lifting price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating; the company also beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and announced a $5.73 quarterly dividend.

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 317.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,300 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 12,400 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $17,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,707,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $1,012,487,000. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 217.5% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $722,247,000 after acquiring an additional 424,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,070,468 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,216,105,000 after acquiring an additional 253,314 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,042.08 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $161.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,041.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,051.69.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

BlackRock News Roundup

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

BlackRock 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.

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