48,397 Shares in BlackRock $BLK Purchased by Holocene Advisors LP

Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 48,397 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $56,425,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $259,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 18.3% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 4.2% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,744 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,520,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a new Ethereum ETF (iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, ETHB) that offers staking rewards, a product move likely to attract crypto‑interested AUM and fee revenue. BlackRock launches new ethereum ETF packed with staking rewards
• Positive Sentiment: Cryptos (Bitcoin and Ether) are rising and ETF inflows into crypto products are increasing — a tailwind for BlackRock’s digital assets business and its new crypto ETFs. Bitcoin touches a six-week high as investors pour into ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Reporting shows BlackRock among the largest public holders of Bitcoin alongside Coinbase and others, reinforcing its role in crypto custody/ETF flows. That positioning supports revenue growth in digital asset products. Strategy Now Among Top 4 Bitcoin Holders, Alongside Satoshi, CoinBase and BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its stake in Rentokil Initial above 12% (disclosed), showing active portfolio moves and signaling the firm’s large-scale equity allocations. Rentokil Initial Discloses Increase in BlackRock Stake Above 12%
• Neutral Sentiment: Headline coverage notes BLK outpaced the broader market today — a descriptive take that reflects the intraday move rather than new company fundamentals. Why BlackRock (BLK) Outpaced the Stock Market Today
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock warns in research that Treasuries and government bonds face further selling amid inflation pressures (AI chip demand, oil, military spending) — a market view that may influence client positioning but is not an immediate company credit issue. Treasuries and Other Government Bonds Will Keep Selling Off, BlackRock Says. These Risks Are Lurking.
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit stress: multiple reports flag investor redemptions and a potential exit wave from private credit funds (spillover from Blue Owl) — a clear risk for BlackRock’s private credit exposure and related fee/AUM stability. The private credit collapse spreads from Blue Owl to BlackRock Wall Street Lunch: Private Credit Funds Face $10B Investor Exit Wave

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,308.89.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $943.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,072.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,090.91. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $146.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 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.