Truist Financial Corp Purchases 7,982 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Truist Financial raised its BlackRock stake by 3.4%, purchasing 7,982 shares to hold 241,949 shares (about 0.16% of the company) valued at $258.97 million at quarter-end.
• Insider selling has been notable recently: CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares (~$35.6M) and insiders disposed of 106,911 shares worth $114.7M over the past 90 days, which may pressure near‑term sentiment.
• Analysts remain mostly positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.06, supported by BlackRock's recent quarterly beat (EPS $12.53 vs. $12.40) and 27% year‑over‑year revenue growth.

Truist Financial Corp increased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 241,949 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 7,982 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.16% of BlackRock worth $258,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th 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 period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,591 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in BlackRock by 12,176.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,582,159 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in BlackRock by 13.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 143,126 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in BlackRock by 4.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 39,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rick Rieder (BlackRock’s CIO of global fixed income) told Barron’s Live he sees the U.S. economy as resilient and expressed a bullish view on stocks — a positive sentiment signal that can support investor appetite for BlackRock’s asset management products. Why BlackRock’s Rick Rieder Thinks the U.S. Economy Is Basically Recession-Proof
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is flagging a “beyond AI” thematic rotation into utilities/infrastructure (HALO sectors) as part of its model trades — this guidance can influence portfolio flows and ETF positioning. BlackRock Just Flagged 'Beyond' AI Trade
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares AI ETF has shown strong past returns (91% last year), highlighting the firm’s product-level success that can attract continued flows into iShares strategies. iShares’ AI ETF Returned 91% Last Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting Boston’s continued prominence as a money‑management hub underscores industry concentration and talent/firm clustering but is unlikely to move BLK shares directly. Not So Fast, Texas. This City Manages Far More Money—and It’s Not New York.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry peers (Blue Owl, Federated Hermes) reported solid AUM and revenue trends — a constructive backdrop for asset managers broadly but not an immediate BLK-specific catalyst. OWL Q1 Earnings Meet on Revenue & AUM Growth Federated Hermes Q1 Earnings Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock executives (Rob Goldstein) warned certain “convenience‑layer” SaaS firms face structural disruption from generative AI — important for asset allocation views but not an immediate earnings driver for BLK. Rob Goldstein: ‘Convenience‑Layer’ SaaS Companies Are ‘In Trouble’ From AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/portfolio filings: disclosure that BlackRock’s stake in Fagron crossed below a 3% threshold—routine transparency event with limited market impact. Disclosure of transparency notification
• Negative Sentiment: Outflows from Bitcoin ETFs after the Fed decision hit IBIT (~$167M outflow over the period), a direct negative for BlackRock’s crypto‑ETF AUM and associated fee revenue in the near term. Bitcoin ETFs Lose Nearly Half A Billion Dollars
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares (~$35.6M) and President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares recently — sizable disclosed sales that can weigh on near‑term sentiment about insider conviction. Fink Form 4 Kapito Form 4

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,220.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 230,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,054,779.16. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 106,911 shares of company stock worth $114,670,698. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,064.31 on Monday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $906.57 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,007.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,059.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.96%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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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