Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors increased its BlackRock stake by 120.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 115,138 shares valued at about $124.7 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to BLK, and overall 80.69% of BlackRock’s stock is held by institutions, showing strong professional investor ownership.
• BlackRock reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $12.53 and revenue of $6.70 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $1,269.06.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 120.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,138 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 63,014 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for 1.6% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of BlackRock worth $124,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $700,000. 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 period. Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 51.5% in the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $24,299,000 after acquiring an additional 7,773 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $83,247,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $269,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,196 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total value of $58,920,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. This trade represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 106,911 shares of company stock valued at $114,670,698. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,083.38 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $1,006.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,056.97. The stock has a market cap of $168.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is drawing interest from investors after reports highlighted its new Aladdin private credit features with Preqin, which could strengthen its data and analytics offering in a growing market and support future asset-management revenue. BlackRock (BLK) Valuation Check As New Aladdin Private Credit Features With Preqin Draw Focus
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Larry Fink’s push for clearer crypto and tokenization rules, along with comments that “compute futures” could become a new asset class, reinforces BlackRock’s reputation as an innovation leader in digital assets and next-generation markets. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Demanding Crypto Regulations. Here's What It Means for Investors.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s ETF franchise continues to be highlighted as a major competitive advantage, with articles pointing to lower fees, scale, and liquidity benefits that could keep supporting inflows into iShares products. BlackRock Touts ETFs as Liquidity Antidote to Private Exposure
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s philanthropic $30 million Texas workforce initiative may improve brand and public relations, but it is unlikely to move the stock materially in the near term. BlackRock Launches Signature Philanthropic Initiative in Texas with $30M Commitment to Grow Electrical Workforce
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports that BlackRock cut the value of parts of its private credit portfolio, including markdowns tied to software borrowers, are a reminder that credit risk remains elevated in a softer lending environment. BlackRock cut private credit fund's value by 5% in first quarter
• Negative Sentiment: News that a BlackRock Asia private credit fund is trying to recover money from a defaulted China loan adds to concerns about underwriting quality and credit performance in the firm’s private markets business. BlackRock Fund Faces Test in Recovering Defaulted China Loan

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut BlackRock from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.06.

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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