Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $30.33 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 450.0% during 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 period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased 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. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

Key BlackRock News

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

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,083.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,093.92 and its 200 day moving average is $1,106.50. 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 twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 $5.73 dividend. 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 is presently 58.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over 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 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.