Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 4,332 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Erste Asset Management GmbH decreased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 11.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,332 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $37,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $259,000. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 42.3% in the second quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its position in BlackRock by 13.6% in the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large operational partnership — BlackRock tapped Citi to provide middle‑office services for roughly $4.0T of U.S. iShares ETFs on Aladdin, which should improve ETF processing, distribution efficiency and could support future inflows. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto ETF momentum — US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a large daily inflow (~$258M) with BlackRock among leaders; sustained flows into IBIT/crypto ETFs would lift fee revenue and reinforce BlackRock’s ETF franchise. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic investments — BlackRock is active in DeFi and AI ecosystems (stake activity with DeFi infrastructure deals and participation in AI chip funding), underscoring diversification into growth themes beyond core asset management. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate actions and holdings updates — BlackRock marginally reduced its stake in BAWAG Group; smaller‑company trusts announced a merger to cut costs and boost scale (operative for subsidiaries/closed‑end trusts, not BLK’s core P&L). Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary — Analysts dispute claims that a single trading firm (Jane Street) systematically moves Bitcoin via IBIT-related flows; markets view BTC moves as broader risk repricing rather than firm manipulation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and cash‑flow pressure — Q4 showed revenue growth (~23%) but sharp declines in operating profit, net income and EPS and weaker operating cash flow, increasing near‑term margin concerns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/reputational risk — Reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M telecom loan involving alleged fake invoices raises questions about credit underwriting and controls. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Multiple senior BlackRock executives and directors (recent Form 4 filings) have sold shares in the past days/weeks; continued insider sales can pressure sentiment even if motivated by routine liquidity. Read More. • Read More.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 112,577 shares of company stock worth $125,311,821. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,089.89 on Friday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. The company has a market capitalization of $169.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,094.81 and a 200 day moving average of $1,104.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The business’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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