JM2 Capital Inc. Takes $1.10 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

JM2 Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,095,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 0.9% of JM2 Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 143,126 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 39,412 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 217.5% during the 3rd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $722,247,000 after buying an additional 424,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 547,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $645,354,000 after buying an additional 154,907 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s strategists raised their U.S. stock outlook, arguing that corporate earnings are coming in strong and that Middle East risks appear contained — a bullish signal for equity flows and fee revenue. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight BlackRock’s public stance that the Iran conflict’s economic damage is likely limited, prompting the firm to pivot back to overweight U.S. equities — supportive for asset-gathering and active/passive equity products. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 earnings are imminent (April 14) and options traders are pricing in a sizable move (~6%), which can amplify intraday swings even if the underlying outlook is constructive. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock announced a $100M U.S. philanthropic workforce development pledge — positive for ESG and reputation but unlikely to materially change near-term financials. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s involvement in a Monte dei Paschi boardroom battle (backing a dissident slate) signals active stewardship; notable for governance profile but of limited direct impact on BLK’s earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several banks (JPMorgan, Evercore, BMO, TD Cowen) trimmed price targets on BLK this week, which can cap upside and influence investor sentiment despite the stock’s recent strength. Read More. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor focus on private credit risks and reported Q1 crypto mark-to-market losses for holdings has raised concerns ahead of earnings, potentially weighing on asset-based fees and net revenue if outflows or valuation hits persist. Read More. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,247.28.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.4%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,023.54 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,014.09 and its 200 day moving average is $1,069.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $845.82 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $159.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the sale, the director 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.