NewEdge Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ValueAct’s David Morfit disclosed a position in BlackRock and said the firm’s technology initiatives could make BlackRock “more powerful,” signaling potential activist support and strategic upside for the asset manager. ValueAct’s Morfit announces BlackRock position
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its BLK price target to $1,340 and kept an outperform rating — a sizable analyst-upside that supports the stock’s valuation expectations. Keefe Bruyette Woods adjusts price target on BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of a Hong Kong-linked firm and other large buyers putting significant capital into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) highlight continued institutional demand for IBIT flows and fee-generating ETF assets. That demand can support revenues tied to ETF AUM. Mystery firm pours $436M into BlackRock’s ETF
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly bullish on BLK’s medium-term growth despite recent underperformance, supporting buy-side interest and giving the stock fundamental backing. BlackRock Stock: Analyst Estimates & Ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: Jane Street and other market-maker 13F filings showed large IBIT positions, sparking manipulation rumors — but market-structure experts say those filings are consistent with dealer inventory/hedging rather than directional bets, so the impact on BLK is uncertain. Is Jane Street manipulating Bitcoin? The viral theory explained
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock trimmed a stake in a bitcoin-proxy strategy but remains the top shareholder — a modest repositioning that keeps it central to crypto ETF market dynamics without changing the company’s ETF leadership role. BlackRock trims stake in Bitcoin proxy Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show new disclosed stakes in Qiagen and a sub‑5% indirect holding in Stora Enso — portfolio moves that matter for disclosure but are unlikely to shift BLK’s core business metrics materially. BlackRock Discloses stake in Qiagen
• Negative Sentiment: Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by BlackRock directors/officers — litigation or governance scrutiny can create headline risk and investor unease. Rosen Law Firm investigation of BlackRock
• Negative Sentiment: Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows and a sharp slowdown in trading volume this week; weaker IBIT flows and crypto volatility can pressure fee growth tied to those ETFs. Bitcoin ETFs log $105M outflows as mystery IBIT buyer surfaces
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting that BLK “slid on investors’ concerns” points to short-term profit-taking and sentiment-driven volatility following the mix of news above. BlackRock (BLK) Slid on Investors’ Concerns

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,971,514.62. This trade represents a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,967 shares of company stock valued at $122,487,380. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,082.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,093.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,105.07. The stock has a market cap of $167.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its 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 net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

BlackRock 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.