Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 677 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.1% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $36,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $33,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 866.7% in the third quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock filed to launch an iShares Nasdaq‑100 ETF (ticker IQQ), positioning the firm to capture a slice of the large Nasdaq‑100/QQQ market and potentially drive incremental ETF flows and fee revenue over time. BlackRock Takes Aim at Invesco
• Neutral Sentiment: Aiviq named former BlackRock and Apex executive Nicholas Morse as Head of Revenue, Americas — a personnel move reflecting BlackRock alumni influence in the asset‑management ecosystem but with limited direct impact on BLK’s near‑term fundamentals. Aiviq Appoints Nicholas Morse
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/industry shifts — analysis suggests an SEC policy shift could reshape ETF and mutual fund structures (a “domino effect”), which may be material over time but is uncertain in timing and net effect for major managers like BlackRock. SEC Policy Shift Could Ease Capital Gains Pain
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock trimmed its direct voting stake in OMV below 4% — a routine holding disclosure that is unlikely to move BLK’s stock materially. BlackRock Trimmed Voting Stake in OMV
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs lowered its BlackRock price target from $1,341 to $1,181 while maintaining a Buy — the reduced target trims headline upside and can pressure sentiment among momentum/target‑sensitive holders. Goldman Lowers Price Target on BLK
• Negative Sentiment: Market caution ahead of BlackRock’s Q1 results is amplifying short‑term volatility; the ETF filing was publicized just before earnings, leaving investors to weigh near‑term costs and flow visibility versus longer‑term AUM opportunity. BLK ETF Filing Ahead of Q1

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,291.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director owned 6,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. This trade represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE BLK opened at $959.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,026.23 and a 200 day moving average of $1,074.70. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $11.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

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.