BlackRock $BLK Stock Position Raised by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,781 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,760 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of BlackRock worth $100,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.0% in the third quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 2,295 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 612 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 109,967 shares of company stock valued at $122,487,380 over the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock formally expanded into DeFi by listing its tokenized Treasury fund (BUIDL) on Uniswap and enabling on‑chain trading — a strategic move that broadens distribution channels for BlackRock’s digital‑asset products and could support future fee/AUM growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Income and earnings fundamentals: company reporting and corporate actions (recent EPS beat and an increased quarterly dividend to $5.73) provide support for income‑oriented investors and justify parts of the stock’s elevated multiple. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F / portfolio moves: recent SEC filings show large BlackRock fund repositioning (additions to IVV, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN and new sizable positions in tickers like Q, SOLS, LXP) — signals scale and active management but are informational about fund flows rather than an immediate BLK earnings driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine ownership disclosures: filings around a ~5% voting stake in BAWAG Group were posted — standard large‑investor activity with limited direct impact on BlackRock’s core management fees. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Robert Goldstein executed sizeable open‑market sales (Feb. 10–11; Form 4 filed). Large insider sales can weigh on near‑term sentiment even when they’re for diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported private‑credit loss: a WSJ report about a ~$400M loss linked to fake invoices in a BlackRock unit highlights execution and due‑diligence risk in private markets and can pressure the multiple investors assign to alternatives. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto headwinds: weakening crypto prices, ETF outflows and reports that some BlackRock crypto portfolios have trimmed BTC/ETH exposure could limit near‑term AUM and fee growth from digital‑asset offerings despite the Uniswap announcement. Read More.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,071.59 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,093.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,105.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued 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 58.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

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.