Groupe la Francaise Sells 1,246 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise reduced its BlackRock stake by 4.6%, selling 1,246 shares and retaining 26,097 shares valued at approximately $24.4 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.69% of BLK.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.06; several firms recently raised their targets, including Morgan Stanley to $1,488.
• BlackRock reported quarterly earnings of $13.91 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 30.6% year over year to $7.08 billion. The company also declared a $5.73 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.0% annual yield.

Groupe la Francaise lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,097 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,246 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in BlackRock were worth $24,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Gibson Capital LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Gibson Capital LLC now owns 308 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 230 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 593 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.8% in the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 271 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,258.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,383.00 to $1,488.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BlackRock from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,311.06.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted approximately $454 million in a single day, accounting for most of the $731 million flowing into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Continued institutional demand could increase BlackRock’s digital-asset assets under management and fee revenue. Bitcoin Spot ETFs See Huge Inflows as BlackRock Takes Lead
• Positive Sentiment: An updated valuation model raised BlackRock’s estimated fair value to $1,320.81 per share from $1,314.44, reinforcing the view that the company’s earnings beat, inflows and margins support additional upside. BlackRock Stock Gets Fair Value Bump
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is seeking to allocate roughly 5% to 20% of target-date funds to private assets, potentially opening a large distribution channel for private equity and private credit products. BlackRock Wants Private Assets in Target-Date Funds
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s support for corporate reincorporation in Texas and its broader tokenization expansion through Securitize could strengthen its positioning in business-friendly and digital-finance markets. BlackRock Casts a Vote of Confidence in Texas

BlackRock Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,121.85 on Monday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $173.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.59, a current ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business's 50 day moving average is $1,092.75 and its 200-day moving average is $1,049.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The firm's revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $12.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 55.86 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, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.78%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BLK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source