Korea Investment CORP Has $84.60 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 14,265 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $84,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 866.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total value of $58,920,245.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at $55,971,514.62. The trade was a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $31,675,823.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $953.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,089.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,099.20. The company has a market capitalization of $148.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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 net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is expanding its iShares iBonds ETF franchise — nine new defined‑maturity bond ETFs across Treasuries, TIPS, corporates, high yield and muni markets — which supports fee growth and ETF distribution strength. BlackRock Announces Plans to Expand iBonds ETF Franchise
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched the iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF (USLN), opening index‑based access to the $1.4T leveraged‑loan market — a distribution/growth opportunity for its ETF business. BlackRock Launches USLN ETF
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional adoption of BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth continues: Intesa Sanpaolo will extend use of Aladdin Wealth for its international banks unit, supporting recurring technology revenue. Intesa Sanpaolo to adopt BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory disclosure: BlackRock disclosed its stake in Finland’s Orion Corp lifted above 5%, a routine holdings disclosure with little immediate impact on BLK’s fundamentals. Orion Corporation disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Market shock: BlackRock capped withdrawals from a $26B private‑credit vehicle after redemption requests exceeded the periodic limit, prompting a broad selloff in BLK and peers as investors reassess liquidity risk in private credit. Forbes: BlackRock Shares Tumble After Limits
• Negative Sentiment: Credit stress: Reporting says BlackRock took a $25M loan write‑off and faced roughly $1.2B in redemption requests tied to private credit, underscoring valuation and liquidity risks in opaque private loan portfolios. Blockonomi: Loan Write-Off & Redemptions
• Negative Sentiment: Contagion risk: The move put alternative asset managers (Blackstone, Apollo, KKR, Ares, Blue Owl) under scrutiny as investors test redemption mechanics across private‑credit and alternative strategies. Benzinga: Peers Under Watch
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction: Evercore trimmed its price target modestly, reflecting near‑term caution after the private‑credit developments. Analyst downgrades/target cuts could add selling pressure if more follow. MarketScreener: Evercore Adjusts Price Target

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three 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 target price of $1,308.89.

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.