Guinness Asset Management LTD Cuts Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Guinness Asset Management LTD trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 217,250 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 43,479 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up about 4.1% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $255,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during 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 last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $215,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 7.2% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 763 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in BlackRock by 50.1% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 2,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,127,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group above 5.8%, signaling active position-building in European bank equity that could reflect strategic opportunities or influence plans. BlackRock Lifts Stake in BAWAG Group Above 5.8%
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is publicly doubling down on India with CEO Larry Fink and partner Reliance promoting equities over gold, and the Jio-BlackRock initiative launching a digital investment advice service — a long-term AUM growth opportunity in a large, underpenetrated market. Jio BlackRock unveils digital investment advice service
• Positive Sentiment: A sell-side note from CICC flagged upside for BLK, adding analyst support that can help sentiment if corroborated by continued flows and earnings. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, CICC Research Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say BlackRock is looking at AES to deepen its infrastructure and utility investment reach — potential expansion of infrastructure investing could boost fee-bearing AUM and strategic positioning. BlackRock Eyes AES To Deepen Infrastructure And Utility Investment Reach
• Neutral Sentiment: Filings show BlackRock owns an 8.1% stake in Archer Aviation, indicating opportunistic equity positions in growth/innovation names; notable for portfolio mix but limited immediate impact on consolidated results. Why BlackRock Just Took an 8.1% Stake in Archer Aviation Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Tokenization coverage notes Ondo Finance moved $95M into BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, reflecting adoption of tokenized real-world-asset products — constructive for product innovation and potential future AUM, but still nascent. How Cosmos Powers Real World Asset Tokenization for Institutional Capital Markets
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw heavy withdrawals (Blockonomi cites ~$817M over two days and $545M outflows), with major redemptions from BlackRock and Fidelity funds — this directly pressures fee-generating AUM and highlights short-term liquidity/flow volatility in BlackRock’s crypto offerings. Bitcoin ETF Outflows Hit $545M as Institutions Expand Crypto Infrastructure

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen lowered BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,054.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $163.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 1.35 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. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,091.94 and its 200-day moving average is $1,107.52.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $11.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.84%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.