First Financial Bankshares Inc Lowers Stake in BlackRock $BLK

First Financial Bankshares Inc lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 758 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.6% of First Financial Bankshares Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $79,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 72 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 0.5% in the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PUREfi Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.0% during the third quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 460 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total transaction of $2,339,962.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total value of $5,738,776.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,967 shares of company stock valued at $122,487,380. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One 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, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded BlackRock, which can lend near-term support to the share price by increasing buy-side demand and signaling stronger relative outlooks from a major broker. UBS upgrades BlackRock (BLK)
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock slightly increased a major stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group, showing active portfolio positioning and willingness to upweight meaningful holdings — a signal of capital deployment and engagement that can be seen as constructive for fee-generating investment activity. BlackRock Slightly Increases Major Stake in BAWAG Group
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on BlackRock’s planned ETHB Ethereum staking ETF highlights product innovation (staking a large portion of ETH, sharing rewards with investors) that could expand fee-bearing ETF/AUM opportunities if adoption continues. This is strategically important even if adoption timing is uncertain. BlackRock’s ETHB Ethereum Staking ETF Set to Reshape Institutional Crypto Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced final February cash distributions for its iShares Premium Money Market ETF — a routine payout for unitholders that has limited direct impact on BLK’s share price but underscores ongoing product operations and client flows in cash management product lines. BlackRock® Canada Announces Final February Cash Distributions for the iShares® Premium Money Market ETF
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage that lists BlackRock in industry roundups (e.g., most-anticipated IPOs) is background-level press that doesn’t materially move the stock on its own. 3 of the Most Highly Anticipated IPOs of 2026 (BLK)
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen consecutive outflows (~$4.5B in 2026 so far), which pressures crypto-related AUM and fee revenue; that trend likely weighed on sentiment given BlackRock’s active crypto ETF offerings and product development in digital-asset space. Bitcoin ETFs Bleed $4.5 Billion in 2026 So Far – Will the Outflows Continue?

BlackRock Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,070.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $166.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,093.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,104.46. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $11.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

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.