CFO Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• CFO Capital Management LLC opened a new BlackRock position in the fourth quarter, buying 1,369 shares valued at about $1.47 million. The stake makes BlackRock its 23rd-largest holding and represents 1.1% of the portfolio.
• BlackRock reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $12.53 beating estimates and revenue rising 27% year over year to $6.70 billion. Analysts now expect the company to earn 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share, payable June 23, implying an annualized payout of $22.92 and a 2.2% yield. Meanwhile, several analysts raised price targets, and the stock carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

CFO Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,369 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,466,000. BlackRock accounts for 1.1% of CFO Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on 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 0.1%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,051.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $163.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a one year low of $917.39 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,047.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,051.90.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF continues to act as a gateway for new investors into traditional finance, with Jay Jacobs saying roughly three-quarters of IBIT holders had never owned an ETF before. That supports the case for continued asset-gathering strength in BlackRock’s ETF franchise. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock filed for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, a covered-call product aimed at income seekers. The move suggests BlackRock is broadening its crypto ETF lineup and could attract more fee-generating inflows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced June cash distributions for multiple iShares ETFs, reinforcing the company’s large and steady ETF distribution machine, which can be viewed as a sign of recurring product demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock was also highlighted as one of the largest Bitcoin holders, with Arkham data placing it ahead of Binance in BTC count. This reflects the scale of its crypto exposure, but it is more descriptive than fundamentally material on its own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing BlackRock with Blackstone and news about BlackRock entering the active high-yield ETF arena are broadly supportive of its product expansion, but neither article points to an immediate catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One headline noted BlackRock “dumps 1,000 Bitcoin” as BTC struggled to hold the $60,000 level. If sustained, weaker crypto prices could dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s Bitcoin-linked products, though the impact on BLK itself is likely limited. Article Title

About BlackRock

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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