New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Boosts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,189 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,747,857,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,705,193,000 after buying an additional 33,752 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after buying an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 5,330,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,126,387,000 after buying an additional 237,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,232,973 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,032,603,000 after buying an additional 35,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,260.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.06.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s cryptocurrency portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion in August, while the firm purchased more than $3.1 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum-linked assets over eight days. Rising crypto prices and strong inflows into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs could increase fee revenue and reinforce its position in digital-asset investing. BlackRock cryptocurrency portfolio up by over $15 billion so far in August
• Positive Sentiment: A newer BlackRock ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, outperforming JPMorgan’s popular JEPQ while charging the same fee. Better-performing products may help BlackRock attract assets and expand recurring management fees. BlackRock ETF performance comparison
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies announced integration with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, expanding access to cross-asset execution tools for mutual clients. The agreement supports Aladdin’s reach and could modestly strengthen BlackRock’s technology-related revenue opportunity. Adroit Trading Technologies Aladdin integration
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives continue to describe Bitcoin as a potential hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits and say institutional demand is strengthening. This supports the firm’s broader strategy of positioning its ETFs and investment products around digital assets.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in QIAGEN (QGEN) through a filing with the Dutch financial regulator. The investment may reflect portfolio-management activity, but it is not expected to have a material near-term effect on BLK earnings. BlackRock stake in QIAGEN
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participated in Piramal Finance’s heavily oversubscribed Indian share offering, highlighting continued institutional demand for its investment-management capabilities but providing limited direct impact on BLK’s financial results.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s view that the CLARITY Act is less critical for Bitcoin than for other cryptocurrencies suggests the company expects Bitcoin’s institutional adoption to continue even amid regulatory uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from “strong buy” to “hold,” potentially adding valuation pressure after the stock’s substantial advance and recent proximity to its 52-week high.
• Negative Sentiment: The Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds and allegations of misleading business information. The announcement is not a formal finding of wrongdoing, but it creates legal and reputational overhang for investors. Rosen Law Firm BlackRock investigation

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,162.58 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,079.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,047.58. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $917.39 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 3.59, a current ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $12.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.78%.

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.