BlackRock $BLK Stock: Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Cuts Position

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lessened its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $41,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,127.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,105.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,066.12. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,187.17. The stock has a market cap of $174.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $15.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.32 by $1.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.22% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 57.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock to Buy and raised its price target to $1,405 from its previous Hold rating, citing the company’s earnings potential and longer-term upside. TD Cowen upgrades BlackRock and raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s assets under management rose 15% year over year to $15.49 trillion in the third quarter, supported by market appreciation and strong investor inflows. Higher AUM can increase management and advisory fees and support revenue growth. BlackRock third-quarter AUM growth
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional demand for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was unusually strong. IBIT attracted approximately $665 million in net inflows on October 19, its largest daily inflow in roughly a year and enough to offset outflows from competing Fidelity and Grayscale funds. This supports BlackRock’s leadership in digital-asset ETFs. Bitcoin ETFs attract inflows led by BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock continues expanding its product platform. The company filed for the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protection ETF, is participating in India’s heavily subscribed Jio Platforms IPO, and is promoting tokenization and AI-infrastructure financing opportunities. These initiatives could create additional fee streams, although their financial impact is longer term. BlackRock participates in Jio IPO
• Neutral Sentiment: The proposed PBIT ETF would use IBIT options, cash and short-term bonds to seek approximately 10% downside protection while capping gains. The product could attract more conservative investors, but fees, protection terms and launch approval remain uncertain. BlackRock files for managed-protection Bitcoin ETF
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain from Bitcoin volatility and insider selling. The proposed buffered ETF may limit upside, while recent filings show BlackRock executives sold shares without reported purchases over the past six months. Broader financial stocks also faced pressure, which could limit near-term gains.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $1,212.00 to $1,405.00 in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,370.00 to $1,430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,389.00 to $1,346.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,468.00 to $1,531.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,337.19.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management and financial technology company headquartered in New York. Founded in 1988, the company provides investment, technology and advisory services to institutional and individual investors, governments, foundations and other clients worldwide.

BlackRock offers a broad range of investment products and strategies, including equity and fixed-income funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds through its iShares business, multi-asset portfolios, cash-management products and alternative investments.