BlackRock $BLK Stake Trimmed by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lessened its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 35,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,284 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $41,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 227,192 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after buying an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after buying an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,789,915,000 after buying an additional 1,704,280 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Argus upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,127.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,073.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,106.12. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $174.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.47.

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 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $11.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delaware Life added Bitcoin exposure to a fixed annuity that uses BlackRock’s ETFs, a distribution win that could support IBIT flows over time and deepen institutional placement for BlackRock’s products. Delaware Life Adds Bitcoin Exposure to Fixed Annuity via BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock raised its voting stake in Siemens Energy to just over 8%, signaling active ownership that can increase influence and possibly unlock value in portfolio companies. BlackRock Raises Voting Stake in Siemens Energy to Just Over 8%
• Positive Sentiment: Media/TV attention — Jim Cramer publicly praised BlackRock, which can buoy investor sentiment in the near term. “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner,” Says Jim Cramer About BlackRock (BLK)
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced January cash distributions for multiple iShares ETFs — routine but supportive of ETF investor demand and product continuity. BlackRock® Canada Announces January Cash Distributions for the iShares® ETFs
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock executives spoke at Davos about geopolitics, AI and inflation — high-profile positioning that provides strategic context but no immediate earnings impact. Davos: BlackRock’s Hildebrand on Geopolitics, Europe’s Role, AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/shareholder filings: Caledonia Mining and Orion disclosed BlackRock crossing AIM/5% thresholds in their registries — routine disclosure of holdings increases without direct company-level revenue impact. Caledonia Mining Reports BlackRock Stake Increase Above AIM Disclosure Threshold
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. Bitcoin ETFs saw approximately $488M of net outflows in a day; BlackRock’s IBIT experienced notable withdrawals (~$57M). Heavy crypto ETF outflows are a direct revenue/asset-pressure channel for BlackRock’s recently launched spot-Bitcoin product. This is the most direct, near-term negative catalyst. Bitcoin ETFs Log Off $488.38M as GBTC by Grayscale Takes the Lead
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto rumor: reports circulated that BlackRock made a billion-dollar XRP purchase—unconfirmed and potentially market-moving; rumors like this can create short-term volatility and investor uncertainty. Did BlackRock Make A Billion-Dollar XRP Bet? Here’s The Real Tea
• Negative Sentiment: Political/leadership noise: a BlackRock executive (Rick Rieder) is reported among Fed chair contenders — while this could raise the firm’s profile, it also draws BlackRock into political scrutiny and could amplify regulatory/policy risk perceptions. BlackRock’s Rick Rieder reportedly among final contenders for Fed chair role

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,346.42. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.