Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 1,417 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 107.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 87.5% in 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 during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’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 owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock worth $55,488,396. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,083.16 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,093.92 and its 200 day moving average is $1,106.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. The firm has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. CICC Research raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is bringing its $2.1B tokenized Treasury fund (BUIDL) to Uniswap, enabling 24/7 on‑chain trading for institutional tokenized cash products and signaling a major institutional move into DeFi and tokenized real‑world assets. This expands BlackRock’s distribution channels and bolsters its digital‑asset credibility. BlackRock enters DeFi, taps Uniswap for institutional token trading
• Positive Sentiment: The Uniswap integration also prompted BlackRock to buy an undisclosed amount of UNI and helped UNI rally — a market reaction that underscores investor belief this partnership could open new fee, distribution or partnership opportunities for BlackRock’s digital‑asset business. BlackRock Makes Historic DeFi Move As Uniswap Deal Sends UNI 15%
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its dividend ~10% (to $5.73/share), supporting yield‑seeking investor demand and reinforcing cash return policy. That helps the stock’s income appeal even as markets rotate. BlackRock Dividend Increase
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing iShares market ETFs (IVV, QQQM, IWM) highlights how flows across BLK’s flagship ETFs act as a barometer of investor sentiment; useful for gauging mutual fund/ETF inflows but not an immediate price catalyst. IVV, QQQM, and IWM: 3 iShares Market ETFs to Watch Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presentation transcript from the Bank of America Financial Services Conference provides fresh commentary and posture on strategy and flows — useful for modeling AUM/fee trends but not a standalone shock. BlackRock Presents at Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: WSJ reports BlackRock’s HPS unit was duped by fake invoices leading to a ~$400M loan write‑off — a concrete reminder of credit risk exposure in private‑credit investments and a potential hit to earnings or goodwill for related strategies. How Fake Invoices Duped BlackRock Unit Into a $400 Million Loan
• Negative Sentiment: Reports show BlackRock has been reducing its BTC and ETH exposure in its crypto portfolios, which may indicate a more cautious stance on direct crypto allocations and could weigh on growth expectations for its digital‑assets unit. Bitcoin And Ethereum Are Steadily Leaving BlackRock’s Crypto Portfolio
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock executives face an investor lawsuit alleging climate‑collusion; any legal/PR fallout could pressure the stock and complicate stewardship or ESG positioning. BlackRock execs hit with investor lawsuit over alleged climate collusion
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~21.9% in mid‑January to ~1.5M shares (≈1.0% of float), signaling some incremental bearish bets and potential volatility ahead of earnings/AUM updates. Data source: internal entries

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.