BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management cut its BlackRock stake by 33% in the first quarter, selling 5,906 shares and leaving it with 11,989 shares valued at about $11.53 million.
• BlackRock insiders sold shares as well: President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares and CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares, reducing their ownership positions.
• Despite the selling, analysts remain broadly positive on BLK, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $1,269.44; the company also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 33.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,989 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,906 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,876,618,000 after buying an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its position in BlackRock by 12,176.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $128,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 200.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after acquiring an additional 968,245 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $966.50 on Monday. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,045.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,049.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm's quarterly 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. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is 57.53%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,430 from $1,393 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing a bullish outlook on the stock. Morgan Stanley raises price target on BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to promote retirement-focused solutions, with its 2026 Read on Retirement survey showing demand for help beyond traditional stock-and-bond portfolios; that supports the firm’s advisory and retirement franchise. BlackRock retirement survey
• Positive Sentiment: Trumid announced a multi-year partnership with BlackRock Aladdin, which could deepen the platform’s reach in fixed-income trading workflows and bolster BlackRock’s technology and enterprise relationships. Trumid partnership with BlackRock Aladdin
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles comparing BlackRock with AMG on value and covering BlackRock ETF yield strategies are mostly informational, but they keep BlackRock’s product lineup in focus for income-oriented investors. AMG or BLK value comparison BALI yield strategy article
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto-market commentary noted defensive positioning in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options and a new yearly low for the fund, which may dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s fast-growing Bitcoin ETF business. Bitcoin options traders hedge downside BlackRock iconic fund hits new yearly low
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock was also mentioned in reports about Bitcoin and Ethereum transfers to Coinbase Prime, which may raise questions about crypto-asset flows, though the impact on BLK itself is unclear. BlackRock sends Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime

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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