2. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is one of the largest publicly owned investment managers in the world. It is placed second on our list of 10 stocks that analysts just increased price targets of. The company posted earnings for the third quarter on October 13, reporting earnings per share of $10.95, beating estimates by $1.47. The revenue over the period was $5 billion, up 15% year-on-year.
On October 14, investment advisory Citi maintained a Buy rating on BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) stock and raised the price target to $1,035 from $1,030. Analyst William Katz commented that “three key positives” would emerge from the third quarter results of the firm.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, 47 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $1.2 billion in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), up from 42 the preceding quarter worth $1.5 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Baron Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“During the quarter, we initiated a position in BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest investment manager with $9 trillion in assets under management. BlackRock offers an array of products across equities, fixed income, alternatives, and cash management to institutional and retail investors worldwide. About one-quarter of BlackRock’s assets under management is actively managed, and the rest is in passive index funds and iShares-branded ETFs. The company offers technology services including the investment and risk management platform, Aladdin, as well as other advisory services and solutions. Over the five years ending December 31, 2020, assets under management and earnings per share grew at compound annual growth rates of 13% and 12%, respectively.
We believe BlackRock is well positioned for continued growth given its diverse product offering, global distribution, brand recognition, and capable management team. With most of its assets in index funds and ETFs, BlackRock is a prime beneficiary of the ongoing shift to passive investing. The company also benefits from increasing demand for sustainable investment strategies and “barbell” strategies that use a combination of low-cost index funds, active and illiquid alternatives products. BlackRock fits squarely within our Tech-Enabled Financials theme given its longstanding commitment to innovation and proprietary technology platform, Aladdin, which serves as the investment and risk management system for both BlackRock and a growing number of institutional investors around the world. We expect BlackRock’s earnings per share will continue to grow at a doubledigit annual rate over a market cycle through a combination of mid-single-digit growth in assets under management from net inflows, market appreciation, low to mid-teens revenue growth in technology services, modest margin expansion, and share repurchases.”
