Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich Sells 11,183 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 97.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 304 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,183 shares during the quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,876,618,000 after buying an additional 5,386,640 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283,208 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,553,194,000 after acquiring an additional 968,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS and Barclays both sounded constructive on BlackRock ahead of earnings, with UBS reiterating a Buy rating and saying strong ETF demand should support results, while Barclays raised its price target to $1,340 and kept an Overweight rating. BlackRock is getting ready to report, and UBS likes what it sees
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s new cheaper Nasdaq-100 ETF adds to its push in a competitive and high-growth ETF category, reinforcing the firm’s leadership in index products. QQQ, Meet IQQ. BlackRock Is Launching a Cheaper Nasdaq-100 ETF.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized treasury fund crossed the $500 million mark, highlighting continued momentum in digital-asset-linked cash management products. BlackRock BUIDL Passing $500 Million Shows Tokenized Treasuries Still Have Momentum

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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. TD Cowen lowered their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,271.11.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,017.67 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,034.44 and its 200 day moving average is $1,044.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.64 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 53.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.