Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 99.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,704,363 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $259,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% during the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,149,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,335 shares in the company, valued at $3,618,174.85. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,062.70 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,094.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,102.75. The firm has a market cap of $164.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.00, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. 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 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. CICC Research boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock appointed Citi to provide select middle‑office services for roughly $4.0 trillion of U.S. iShares ETFs on the Aladdin platform — a scale partnership that should improve ETF processing and distribution efficiency and could help support ETF flows and fee revenue. BlackRock Appoints Citi to Provide Select ETF Middle Office Services on Aladdin
• Positive Sentiment: Spot crypto ETFs have shown renewed demand (multiple days of notable inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT among leaders) — positive for BlackRock’s crypto product franchise and potential fee/revenue upside if flows persist. Spot Bitcoin ETFs take in $1B in three days as investors buy the dip
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock‑owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), working with EQT, is reported to be near a deal to acquire AES Corp — a sign that BlackRock’s alternatives platform is active in large, fee‑generating transactions. BlackRock’s GIP, EQT near deal to acquire AES Corp, Bloomberg News reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show BlackRock has built an ~11% stake (about 12% voting power) in Qiagen — a portfolio move that is important for holdings disclosure but not necessarily material to BLK’s core earnings. BlackRock Builds 11% Stake and 12% Voting Power in Qiagen
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F/ownership notes (e.g., stake disclosure in IonQ) and smaller fund/structure moves keep BlackRock active across boutiques and ETFs but are largely informational for the firm’s diversified business. BlackRock Owns 24.3 Million Shares of IonQ. Here’s What That Really Tells You About Quantum Computing Stocks.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results show revenue growth but reports indicate operating profit, net income and EPS fell YoY — margin pressure and weaker profit metrics are weighing on near‑term earnings visibility. BlackRock Inc. Releases Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M loan tied to fake invoices raises operational/reputational questions around credit controls — a headline that can amplify investor caution. BlackRock duped into loaning $430M to telecom entrepreneur who allegedly faked invoices
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling by senior directors (recent Form 4 filings) is being watched by investors and can contribute to near‑term negative sentiment even if sales are for liquidity or option exercises. SEC Form 4 (insider sales)

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.