BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 96.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 663 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18,800 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in BlackRock by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $700,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,591,000 after purchasing an additional 19,404 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total transaction of $5,738,776.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,618,174.85. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 112,577 shares of company stock worth $125,311,821 over the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large spot Bitcoin ETF inflows — US spot Bitcoin ETFs including BlackRock’s IBIT pulled in heavy net flows (about $1B over three days), suggesting continued demand for BlackRock’s crypto ETF franchise and potential fee growth if flows persist. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Middle‑office scale deal with Citi — BlackRock appointed Citi to provide select middle‑office services for roughly $4T of U.S. iShares ETFs on Aladdin, a move that should improve processing efficiency and support ETF distribution. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and optimism on evolving profit mix — recent coverage highlights UBS and other firms lifting ratings/targets as BlackRock expands alternatives, digital assets and ETF tech (supports longer‑term earnings upside). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic investments into DeFi/AI ecosystems — participation in DeFi infrastructure deals and AI chip funding signals diversification into higher‑growth areas that could boost future fee pools. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Debate over Bitcoin market microstructure — public pushback against claims that a single market maker (Jane Street) is manipulating daily BTC moves reduces single‑counterparty risk concerns for BlackRock’s IBIT, but overall crypto volatility remains a flow driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fund and trust reorganization news — smaller‑company trust merger and a marginal stake change in BAWAG are operational updates with limited direct impact on BLK’s core results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 profit and cash‑flow weakness — third‑party summaries show revenue rose but operating profit, net income and EPS fell materially YoY, with operating cash flow down—raising near‑term margin and profitability concerns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/reputational hit from a $430M loan fraud — reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M loan tied to alleged fake invoices creates risk around underwriting controls and could pressure sentiment until clarified. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling — recent director and senior‑manager share sales (disclosed Form 4s) are being watched by investors and can weigh on sentiment even if they reflect routine liquidity or option exercises. Read More.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,089.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,094.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,104.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. CICC Research boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Cowen lowered shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

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.