BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

Key Points

• London Co. of Virginia trimmed its BlackRock stake by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,286 shares and ending with 421,889 shares worth about $451.6 million.
• Several other institutions also adjusted holdings, and insiders sold shares as well: President Robert Kapito and CEO Laurence Fink both reduced their positions in late April.
• BlackRock recently beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $12.53 and revenue of $6.70 billion, and it announced a $5.73 quarterly dividend, implying a 2.2% yield.

London Co. of Virginia reduced its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 421,889 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,286 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for about 2.6% of London Co. of Virginia's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. London Co. of Virginia owned approximately 0.27% of BlackRock worth $451,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $985,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $49,239,000 after acquiring an additional 41,579 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $269,572,000 after acquiring an additional 24,196 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion lifted its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% in the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $24,299,000 after acquiring an additional 7,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $3,791,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business's 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 sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,051.81 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $917.39 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $163.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $1,043.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,051.76.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s top investment executive, Rick Rieder, said Bitcoin is “ultimately going considerably higher,” reinforcing the firm’s bullish stance on digital assets and potentially boosting sentiment around BlackRock’s crypto-linked business opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock remains in focus as a large asset manager with a steady dividend profile, with its next quarterly payout due soon, which can appeal to income-focused investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced product changes and risk-rating updates for several iShares ETFs, reflecting routine portfolio maintenance and index transitions rather than a major business shift.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted BlackRock commentary on AI, private markets, and a broader market rotation out of cash, which may support the long-term investment case but do not directly change near-term fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock is cutting nearly 200 jobs globally, part of a continued “rightsizing” effort tied to efficiency and growth initiatives; while modest in scale, the repeated layoffs may signal management is still trimming costs aggressively.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,264.61.

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.

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