Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 3,317 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,317 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $39,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at about $215,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,969,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.4% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 33,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,457,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

BLK opened at $1,086.77 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $168.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,093.86 and a 200-day moving average of $1,106.67.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 48,305 shares of company stock worth $55,488,396 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board-approved dividend raise (nearly 10%) signals management confidence and boosts yield appeal to income investors; payable Mar 24, record date Mar 6. BlackRock Dividend Increase
• Positive Sentiment: Texas judge struck down a state law blacklisting ESG-focused firms — reduces a regulatory overhang and could help preserve BlackRock’s ability to market ESG products across states. Rejection of Texas law blacklisting ‘woke’ BlackRock could challenge anti-ESG laws in other states
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock presented at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference — investor Q&A and management commentary can provide incremental clarity on flows, product strategy and margin outlook but no headline surprises reported. BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) Presents at Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show BlackRock reduced or disclosed sub‑5% stakes in some overseas names (SiteMinder, BAWAG, Stora Enso). Routine portfolio rebalancing; limited direct impact on BLK fundamentals. BlackRock Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in SiteMinder
• Negative Sentiment: WSJ reports a $400M loan wipeout at BlackRock’s HPS unit after fake invoices — highlights credit and operational risks in private‑credit lending and could raise questions about underwriting / controls and loss provisioning. How Fake Invoices Duped BlackRock Unit Into a $400 Million Loan
• Negative Sentiment: Investors sued BlackRock executives alleging collusion over climate-related decisions — legal risk and potential reputational cost; outcome and materiality remain uncertain but it invites scrutiny. BlackRock execs hit with investor lawsuit over alleged climate collusion
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~22% in January to ~1.5M shares (≈1.0% of float) — higher short activity can add selling pressure or volatility in near term, though short ratio is still modest (~2 days). (Data release)
• Negative Sentiment: Notice about a securities‑fraud class action involving BlackRock TCP Capital (TCPC) with an April 6 filing deadline — potential legal exposure for the TCP vehicle; indirect reputational and litigation risk for BlackRock’s managed-products franchise. Deadline Alert: BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (TCPC) Shareholders …

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.