BlackRock $BLK is ClearAlpha Technologies LP's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• ClearAlpha Technologies LP increased its BlackRock stake by 352.1% in the fourth quarter, making BLK its 2nd-largest holding. The position was valued at about $2.97 million at quarter-end.
• BlackRock continues to see broad institutional support, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 80.69% of the company’s stock. Several smaller investors also added to their positions during the quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a consensus target price of $1,264.61. Recent headlines also highlighted new crypto-related ETF products and continued inflows into BlackRock’s digital-assets funds.

ClearAlpha Technologies LP grew its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 352.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,776 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 8.5% of ClearAlpha Technologies LP's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. ClearAlpha Technologies LP's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Shum Financial Group Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,183 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME increased its position in BlackRock by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 321 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 430 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 755 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,264.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was 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 $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,058.34 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1,045.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,051.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock expanded its digital-assets lineup with the launch of the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA), a covered-call bitcoin income product. That keeps BLK positioned to benefit from continued investor demand for crypto-linked funds and adds another fee-generating product to its ETF franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s CIO Rick Rieder reiterated a constructive long-term view on bitcoin and highlighted that large pools of cash could rotate back into markets, reinforcing the firm’s influence in the crypto and macro conversation. Related coverage also noted strong spot ETF inflows into BlackRock’s IBIT and ETHA products.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-linked HPS Investment Partners participated in a $175 million investment in Behavox, underscoring continued capital deployment through BlackRock’s private-markets and alternatives platform.
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve held rates steady but signaled the possibility of future hikes, a backdrop that can affect fixed-income positioning and asset flows for BlackRock depending on how markets react.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock was mentioned in broader market commentary and stock-screening articles, but those pieces do not appear to add much direct fundamental impact.
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock also reported another round of job cuts, trimming roughly 200 roles globally. While framed as efficiency-focused, layoffs can be read as a sign of ongoing restructuring pressure.

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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