BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $700,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,579 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 51.5% in the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,299,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $83,247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,550.00 to $1,368.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,255.00.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big inflows into BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF signal continued demand for its crypto ETF franchise — Cointelegraph reports $269M flowed into the iShares Bitcoin Trust in a single day, helping stabilize ETF flows and AUM dynamics. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is expanding its crypto and staking infrastructure (largest single-day ETH buys reported; added Galaxy Digital as an ETHB validator), which supports growth of fee-bearing, differentiated ETF products. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: CNBC highlights BlackRock applying hedge‑fund long/short strategies to liquid alternative ETFs — this could attract higher‑margin flows and broader client demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic moves: BlackRock’s infrastructure arm is reportedly eyeing Associated British Ports — a sign of continued private markets deployment that can diversify fee streams but would be capital‑intensive and long‑dated. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend and income positioning: several pieces (Yahoo/Zacks/TipRanks) highlight BLK as an attractive dividend stock and point to high‑yield BlackRock dividend ETFs — supportive for long‑term investor demand but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Concentrated analyst pressure: multiple firms trimmed targets/ratings this week (UBS, TD Cowen, Evercore, BMO among them), reducing upside expectations and amplifying near‑term selling pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation risk: Pomerantz announced an investigation into BlackRock on April 9 — legal actions or settlements could create headline risk and uncertainty for shareholders. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Management caution: BlackRock’s Helen Jewell warned that earnings estimates may be overly optimistic amid inflationary pressures from geopolitical events — increased guidance risk ahead of Q1 results. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of BLK opened at $999.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,016.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,071.03. The stock has a market cap of $155.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $840.50 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

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.