Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 71,403 BlackRock $BLK

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 71,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $83,247,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.8% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,644,007,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,789,915,000 after buying an additional 1,704,280 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after acquiring an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1,962.0% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 792,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $831,524,000 after acquiring an additional 754,060 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in BlackRock by 29,043.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 245,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $285,748,000 after acquiring an additional 244,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. 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 report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,127.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,086.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,107.63. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS 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 given a $5.73 dividend. 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. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 over the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s head of fixed income, is widely viewed as a leading candidate for Fed chair; markets are treating his potential appointment as supportive for bond markets and for BlackRock’s stature and policy influence. Fed favorite Rick Rieder manages a $2.4 trillion BlackRock portfolio—and knows more about the bond market than anyone in America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade from Freedom Capital raised BLK’s price target (cited lift to $1,364), reflecting confidence in earnings potential and reinforcing buy-side sentiment. Freedom Capital Boosts BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) Target Amid Strong Earnings Potential
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and Partners Group launched a private-markets SMA for wealth platforms, expanding distribution to high-net-worth channels and monetizable AUM sources. This supports fee-growth diversification. BlackRock, Partners Group Launch Private Markets SMA
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock extended a long-term index licensing pact with MSCI, a distribution/operational win that helps stabilize passive product offerings and indexing relationships. MSCI, BlackRock extend long-term equity index licensing pact
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-backed financing led a $257M Series D for Cellares, signaling continued strategic venture investing and potential upside from private-tech exposure in its balance of alternatives. Cellares Raises $257 Million Series D Led by BlackRock and Eclipse
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock filed another Bitcoin ETF and a covered-call version surfaced, extending its crypto product push — filings themselves draw attention but not guaranteed immediate revenue. BlackRock Drops Another Bitcoin ETF, But No Sign Of An XRP ETF, What’s Going On?
• Negative Sentiment: A WSJ report highlighted a BlackRock fund that disclosed a 19% markdown after previously marking holdings full-value, reigniting concerns about transparency and valuation risk in private-credit allocations. That could pressure sentiment around illiquid asset exposure and fee sustainability. How a BlackRock Loss Reignited Worries About What Is Hiding in Private-Credit
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary criticizes the proliferation of covered-call crypto ETFs (including BlackRock’s new covered-call Bitcoin product) as a potentially risky product glut that could hurt long-term investor outcomes and attract regulatory scrutiny. BlackRock’s New Covered Call Bitcoin ETF Is Another Red Flag for a Dangerous Investing Trend

BlackRock Company 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.