Wesbanco Bank Inc. Raises Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its BlackRock stake by 8.2% in the first quarter, adding 1,178 shares to bring its total to 15,565 shares valued at about $14.97 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 80.69% of BlackRock’s stock. Several firms, including Legal & General and Sarasin & Partners, also recently increased their positions.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive: multiple analysts raised price targets, and BlackRock reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $12.53 and revenue of $6.70 billion, both above estimates. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,565 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $985,331,000 after acquiring an additional 7,457 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $269,572,000 after acquiring an additional 24,196 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $24,299,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,791,000. Finally, TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $20,279,000. 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: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,430 from $1,393 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing a bullish outlook on the stock. Morgan Stanley raises price target on BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues to promote retirement-focused solutions, with its 2026 Read on Retirement survey showing demand for help beyond traditional stock-and-bond portfolios; that supports the firm’s advisory and retirement franchise. BlackRock retirement survey
• Positive Sentiment: Trumid announced a multi-year partnership with BlackRock Aladdin, which could deepen the platform’s reach in fixed-income trading workflows and bolster BlackRock’s technology and enterprise relationships. Trumid partnership with BlackRock Aladdin
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles comparing BlackRock with AMG on value and covering BlackRock ETF yield strategies are mostly informational, but they keep BlackRock’s product lineup in focus for income-oriented investors. AMG or BLK value comparison BALI yield strategy article
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto-market commentary noted defensive positioning in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options and a new yearly low for the fund, which may dampen sentiment around BlackRock’s fast-growing Bitcoin ETF business. Bitcoin options traders hedge downside BlackRock iconic fund hits new yearly low
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock was also mentioned in reports about Bitcoin and Ethereum transfers to Coinbase Prime, which may raise questions about crypto-asset flows, though the impact on BLK itself is unclear. BlackRock sends Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,393.00 to $1,430.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,269.44.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $966.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,045.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,049.66.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 57.53%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business'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 owned 230,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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