L.M. Kohn & Company Trims Stake in BlackRock $BLK

L.M. Kohn & Company decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 375 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 770 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $384,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and Partners Group rolled out a first‑of‑its‑kind private markets SMA for wealthy investors, offering three portfolio mixes (income, balanced growth, growth) and access to funds from BlackRock, HPS and Partners Group — a move that can expand fee‑bearing AUM and wealthy‑client distribution channels. BlackRock and Partners Group Launch Joint Private Markets Account for Wealthy Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report the new SMAs and wealth‑platform integrations that widen private‑markets access for high‑net‑worth clients — an incremental distribution channel that could raise recurring fees and retention. BlackRock, Partners Group roll out private markets SMA
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is adding profit‑sharing for private‑markets staff to compete with Apollo, Blackstone, KKR and others — a deliberate push to retain and hire alts talent, which supports long‑term growth in higher‑margin alternative products. $14 trillion asset manager BlackRock unveils its newest weapon in Wall Street ‘alts’ talent war: profit sharing from private markets
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional activity tied to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund boosted tokenized real‑world assets on Avalanche (TVL up sharply), highlighting BlackRock’s push into tokenization and digital liquidity even as the native token underperformed — strategic innovation that could open new product lines but carries crypto execution risk. BlackRock’s BUIDL aids Avalanche tokenization value boom in Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation that BlackRock might enter a spot XRP ETF by late‑2026 reflects ongoing crypto product optionality; this signals potential future revenue streams but is timing‑and‑demand dependent. BlackRock XRP ETF Next? Canary CEO Eyes Late 2026
• Negative Sentiment: A WSJ report highlighted a recent BlackRock loss and a 19% write‑down in a private‑credit position that had previously been marked at full value — reigniting investor worries about valuation transparency and downside in private‑credit portfolios, which likely drove some of today’s selling pressure. How a BlackRock Loss Reignited Worries About What Is Hiding in Private-Credit

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,117.52 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,088.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,107.67. The stock has a market cap of $173.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be 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 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

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.