Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Purchases 41,579 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6,347.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 41,579 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.0% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $49,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 227,192 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,281,641,000 after buying an additional 34,049 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after buying an additional 842,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total value of $2,339,962.73. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. This represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 109,967 shares of company stock worth $122,487,380 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,093.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,093.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,105.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.84%.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ValueAct’s Jeffrey Morfit disclosed a position in BlackRock and publicly said BlackRock’s technology investments can make the firm “more powerful,” signaling activist/backing interest from a respected investor — a catalyst for confidence in strategic execution. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted its BLK price target to $1,340 and kept an “outperform” rating, giving the stock a sizable upside thesis that can attract institutional buyers. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Spot Bitcoin ETF activity remains a driver for BlackRock’s fee growth: new 13F disclosures show large institutional buys of IBIT (including a big Hong Kong filer), which supports IBIT AUM and potential fee revenue even as flows fluctuate. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock reported several portfolio moves and disclosures (sub‑5% indirect stake in Stora Enso; a 10.68% capital interest in Qiagen) — routine large-manager activity that highlights active asset-allocation but has limited immediate impact on BLK’s revenue. Read More. · Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock trimmed a stake in a Bitcoin proxy strategy but remains a top shareholder — an operational portfolio tweak that slightly alters exposure but doesn’t change its dominant ETF market position. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms (Rosen, Bragar Eagel & Squire, Pomerantz, etc.) have announced investigations or class actions related to alleged breaches at entities connected to BlackRock (and its TCP vehicle), creating legal overhang and headline risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto ETF flows showed a $105M outflow day and slower trading volumes, which could pressure short-term IBIT/crypto-related fee growth; separate coverage about staking-fee mechanics for BlackRock’s Ethereum product has also drawn scrutiny over fee take. Read More. · Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

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.