BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 434,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,056 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 2.8% of London Co. of Virginia’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. London Co. of Virginia owned approximately 0.28% of BlackRock worth $506,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,644,007,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,704,280 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 72.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1,962.0% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 792,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $831,524,000 after purchasing an additional 754,060 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in BlackRock by 217.5% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $722,247,000 after purchasing an additional 424,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a new Ethereum ETF (iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, ETHB) that offers staking rewards, a product move likely to attract crypto‑interested AUM and fee revenue. BlackRock launches new ethereum ETF packed with staking rewards
• Positive Sentiment: Cryptos (Bitcoin and Ether) are rising and ETF inflows into crypto products are increasing — a tailwind for BlackRock’s digital assets business and its new crypto ETFs. Bitcoin touches a six-week high as investors pour into ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Reporting shows BlackRock among the largest public holders of Bitcoin alongside Coinbase and others, reinforcing its role in crypto custody/ETF flows. That positioning supports revenue growth in digital asset products. Strategy Now Among Top 4 Bitcoin Holders, Alongside Satoshi, CoinBase and BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its stake in Rentokil Initial above 12% (disclosed), showing active portfolio moves and signaling the firm’s large-scale equity allocations. Rentokil Initial Discloses Increase in BlackRock Stake Above 12%
• Neutral Sentiment: Headline coverage notes BLK outpaced the broader market today — a descriptive take that reflects the intraday move rather than new company fundamentals. Why BlackRock (BLK) Outpaced the Stock Market Today
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock warns in research that Treasuries and government bonds face further selling amid inflation pressures (AI chip demand, oil, military spending) — a market view that may influence client positioning but is not an immediate company credit issue. Treasuries and Other Government Bonds Will Keep Selling Off, BlackRock Says. These Risks Are Lurking.
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit stress: multiple reports flag investor redemptions and a potential exit wave from private credit funds (spillover from Blue Owl) — a clear risk for BlackRock’s private credit exposure and related fee/AUM stability. The private credit collapse spreads from Blue Owl to BlackRock Wall Street Lunch: Private Credit Funds Face $10B Investor Exit Wave

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $943.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,072.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,090.91. The company has a market cap of $146.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $11.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen lowered BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,308.89.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at $6,054,779.16. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.