BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC decreased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

BLK stock opened at $1,059.34 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,082.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,091.48. The company has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Argus boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,360.00 to $1,340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,316.18.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an Overweight rating, supporting demand expectations and giving BLK near-term analyst support. Morgan Stanley note
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada cut management fees on several core iShares ETF portfolios (effective Dec. 18), which should help competitiveness and could lift AUM/flows in Canada. Fee cut press release
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains generally constructive: multiple recent buy/overweight ratings and above-consensus price targets point to continued analyst conviction in BLK’s long-term earnings power. Analyst notes summary
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock signed an MoU with Mastercard and others to promote blockchain adoption in the Middle East — a strategic partnership that’s incremental for growth but not immediately material to earnings. PYMNTS article
• Neutral Sentiment: Eni sold a 49.99% stake in its carbon capture unit to GIP (BlackRock’s infrastructure fund) giving joint control — a sign of GIP deal activity and infrastructure exposure but limited immediate impact on BLK’s public earnings. Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative valuation pieces (e.g., IVZ vs BLK) are circulating but don’t change fundamentals; useful for allocators weighing expense/return trade-offs. Zacks comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank issued a pessimistic forecast for BLK’s stock, which likely contributed to selling pressure from model/quant funds and some institutional rebalancing. Deutsche Bank note
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced expectations for BLK, adding to the negative analyst noise and pressuring sentiment. KBW note
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto flows: large spot-Bitcoin ETF inflows were reported (helpful) but BlackRock also moved BTC/ETH to exchanges for redemptions, sparking market volatility and headlines blaming BLK for short-term crypto declines — this fuels risk-off in ETFs and hurt sentiment. Blockonomi NewsBTC
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling activity has been reported recently, which can amplify downside as it raises governance/flow concerns among some investors. QuiverQuant insider summary

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.