BlackRock $BLK Position Cut by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,626 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 697 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $700,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,579 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion increased its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,299,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $83,247,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,196 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.5%

BLK opened at $1,083.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,006.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,056.97. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 4.09. The firm has a market cap of $168.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 during 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.64 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,269.06.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,083.05, for a total transaction of $2,166,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,127,439. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 106,911 shares of company stock worth $114,670,698. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About BlackRock

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.