Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 25,791 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its BlackRock stake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,791 shares and ending with 2,500,944 shares worth about $2.68 billion.
• BlackRock continues to attract major institutional interest, with large investors like Norges Bank, Oak Harvest Investment Services, and Blue Owl Capital adding or initiating sizable positions. Overall, institutions own about 80.69% of the stock.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on BlackRock, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $1,264.61, even as some recent reports highlighted pressure on its private-credit funds from elevated redemption requests.

Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,500,944 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 25,791 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 0.5% of Wells Fargo & Company MN's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 1.61% of BlackRock worth $2,676,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $1,012,487,000. Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in BlackRock by 217.5% in the 3rd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $722,247,000 after buying an additional 424,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,070,468 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,216,105,000 after buying an additional 253,314 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,264.61.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock’s private-credit funds saw redemption requests far above the cap, and the firm is again limiting withdrawals, which could weigh on sentiment around its alternatives business. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said BlackRock’s HPS/HLEND private-credit vehicles capped redemptions after investors sought to withdraw more than 5%, underscoring continued pressure in the funds. Bloomberg article
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock also reported buying additional Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and it is preparing an income-focused Bitcoin ETF, highlighting continued growth in its digital-asset franchise. Finbold article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock may seek about $5 billion of SpaceX IPO shares point to strong client demand and product breadth, but this is not as immediate a driver as the redemption headlines. Reuters article

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 210,186 shares of the company's stock, 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 hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,031.45 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $160.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,039.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,051.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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