National Pension Service Acquires 9,073 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 306,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,073 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of BlackRock worth $357,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% in 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. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This trade 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 worth $55,488,396 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

More BlackRock News

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

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,117.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,088.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,107.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. The company has a market cap of $173.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.