Bank of America to Trim BlackRock Stake? (BAC, BLK)

Bank of America BAC is considering trimming its stake in asset manager BlackRock BLK, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday. Bank of America acquired a 34.1% share of BlackRock in its 2008-2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch. As of March 31, the bank valued the stake at $14.1 billion. According to a Reuters report, "Bank of America has for some time been looking at its non-core assets and weighing whether to sell or keep them, said the source. The BlackRock asset is not considered core, so the bank is also weighing whether that should be reduced, the source said." Bank of America recently trimmed its private equity investment business by spinning off a division, now called Ridgemont Equity Partners. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Bank of America was considering reducing the BlackRock stake. Bank of America and BlackRock both closed more than 1.25% higher Friday, to $13.23 and $151.58, respectively.