Impax Asset Management Group plc Acquires Shares of 940 BlackRock $BLK

Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 940 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a first‑of‑its‑kind institutional DeFi integration by listing its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) on Uniswap and buying UNI tokens — a move that broadens BlackRock’s digital‑assets distribution channels and signals new product reach and potential fee/asset flows. BlackRock enters DeFi, taps Uniswap for institutional token trading
• Neutral Sentiment: SEC 13F disclosures and fund updates show large portfolio repositioning by BlackRock’s funds (big additions to IVV, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN and new sizable positions in tickers like Q, SOLS, LXP) — illustrates active asset management scale but is informational for fund flows rather than an immediate company earnings signal. Fund Update: BlackRock, Inc. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/ownership notices: BlackRock’s voting stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group was recently disclosed around the 5% threshold (movements reported both up and slightly down across entities) — a routine large‑investor disclosure with limited direct impact on BLK’s core business. BlackRock Raises Voting Stake in BAWAG Group to 5.77%
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Robert L. Goldstein executed large open‑market sales on Feb. 10–11 (totaling ~59k shares, SEC Form 4 filed) — sizable insider sales can pressure sentiment and raise investor questions even if sales are for diversification or tax reasons. SEC Form 4 disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of portfolio and product risk: WSJ reports a $400M loss tied to fake invoices at a BlackRock unit’s private‑credit position, highlighting execution and due‑diligence risks in its private markets business — a reputational and P&L headline that can weigh on valuation multiple. How Fake Invoices Duped BlackRock Unit Into a $400 Million Loan
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto headwinds: crypto market weakness and reporting that BlackRock has pared Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure in some crypto portfolios could reduce near‑term AUM and fee growth in digital‑asset products and dampen enthusiasm from the earlier Uniswap announcement. Major Institutional Shift? Bitcoin And Ethereum Are Steadily Leaving BlackRock’s Crypto Portfolio

BlackRock Trading Down 2.5%

BLK opened at $1,055.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The company has a market cap of $163.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,093.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,106.15. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. CICC Research upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total transaction of $5,738,776.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 107,788 shares of company stock valued at $120,147,417 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.