Mariner LLC Has $135.99 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Mariner LLC boosted its BlackRock stake by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,634 more shares and bringing its total holding to 127,041 shares worth about $135.99 million.
• BlackRock continues to attract attention from institutional investors, with hedge funds and institutions owning 80.69% of the stock, even as some competitive pressure and regulatory scrutiny show up in recent headlines.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also declared a $5.73 quarterly dividend payable on June 23, for an annualized yield of about 2.2%.

Mariner LLC increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,041 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 11,634 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC owned approximately 0.08% of BlackRock worth $135,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Shum Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,183 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 321 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 430 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 755 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s Rick Rieder said the recent rally in U.S. equities could accelerate as investors shift cash out of the roughly $8 trillion to $9 trillion parked in money market funds, which would support broader asset prices and potentially BlackRock’s fee-generating AUM. BlackRock’s Rieder Sees ‘Explosive’ Rally as Cash Gets Unlocked
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage highlighted BlackRock’s income-oriented ETFs, reinforcing the company’s leadership in fee-collecting investment products and ongoing investor demand for yield. 3 High-Yield BlackRock ETFs Paying 6%+ in Passive Income
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock commentary on AI framed the theme as a multi-year investment cycle rather than a short-term trade, which may support long-duration capital allocation into the firm’s strategies. The AI Trade Is Short-Term. The AI Investment Is a Decade: BlackRock’s Three-Phase Framework
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced product changes and a risk-rating update for five iShares ETFs, mainly reflecting index methodology changes tied to Research Affiliates’ withdrawal of input data. This appears operational rather than financially material. BlackRock Canada Announces Product Changes and Risk Rating Update
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also received another look for NYC’s large pension mandate, but there was no final decision reported yet. BlackRock gets another shot at NYC's massive pension mandate (updated)
• Negative Sentiment: Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked BlackRock and other infrastructure investors for details on data center deals, adding potential regulatory and political scrutiny around private-markets activity. Elizabeth Warren Demands Answers From BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR Over Data Center Deals
• Negative Sentiment: Separate coverage noted Vanguard gaining while BlackRock shed assets in ETF league tables, which could signal competitive pressure in the asset-management business. ETF League Tables: Vanguard Gains, BlackRock Sheds Assets

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value 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 $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. UBS Group increased 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, Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.0%

BLK opened at $1,042.08 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,041.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,051.69. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $161.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

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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