Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its BlackRock stake by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 3,924 shares worth about $4.2 million.
• BlackRock insiders have been selling shares, including COO Robert L. Goldstein and CEO Laurence Fink, with total insider sales of 106,911 shares valued at roughly $114.7 million over the last 90 days.
• Despite the selling, BlackRock recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $12.53 EPS on $6.70 billion in revenue, and analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $1,269.06.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,924 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,070 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,146,663,000 after purchasing an additional 10,591 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,213,561 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,414,854,000 after purchasing an additional 143,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 913,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,064,580,000 after purchasing an additional 39,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 106,911 shares of company stock worth $114,670,698 in the last ninety days. 1.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,083.38 on Monday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $168.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,006.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,056.97.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 firm posted $9.64 EPS. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.77 EPS for the current 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of BlackRock from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BlackRock from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,269.06.

BlackRock 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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