Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group cut its BlackRock stake by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 30,159 shares and ending with 46,506 shares valued at about $49.8 million.
• BlackRock’s executives also sold stock recently: CEO Larry Fink sold 33,900 shares and President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares, though insiders still own only 1.92% of the company.
• The company remains on solid footing operationally, with recent earnings topping estimates and revenue rising 27% year over year, while analysts keep a Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of about $1,264.61.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,506 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 30,159 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $49,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock 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 twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,043.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,051.76. The firm has a market cap of $163.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on 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. Evercore cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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