BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,305.00 to $1,298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,316.18.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,082.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,071.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,097.15. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 227,192 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,281,641,000 after buying an additional 34,049 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after acquiring an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,146,663,000 after acquiring an additional 10,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Stores Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury has paid $100M in dividends — a milestone for its tokenization efforts that highlights a new revenue/earnings channel and the firm’s push into financial infrastructure innovation. BlackRock’s BUIDL becomes first tokenized Treasury to pay $100M in dividends
• Positive Sentiment: Reports note BlackRock has hit a record milestone in payouts — reinforces the firm’s strong cash-return profile and supports investor expectations for steady distributions from fee income and ETF flows. BlackRock hits record milestone in payouts
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its stake in OMV AG above the 4% voting-rights threshold — a strategic stake that could give BLK greater influence and potential engagement opportunities in European energy assets. Investors may view this as an active capital-allocation/engagement move. BlackRock Lifts OMV Stake Above 4% Voting Rights Threshold
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain constructive views: BLK has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” and multiple price targets above current levels — supportive for medium-term sentiment. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock set its Q4 2025 earnings release for Jan. 15, 2026 (pre-market) and will host management for the call — a scheduled event that could move the stock depending on outcomes but is routine. BlackRock to Report Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings on January 15th
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced final annual reinvested capital gains distributions (non‑cash) and separate final December cash distributions for many iShares ETFs — routine year‑end tax and cash-management items for Canadian-listed funds. These are operationally normal but can affect short-term flows in specific ETFs. BlackRock® Canada Announces Final Annual Reinvested Capital Gains Distributions for the iShares® ETFs
• Neutral Sentiment: Analytical pieces on BLK valuation / P/E provide context but add little immediate news — useful for longer-term investors assessing multiples versus peers. Price Over Earnings Overview: BlackRock
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock moved large amounts of Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase amid crypto‑ETF outflows signal liquidity management and persistent investor redemptions in crypto ETFs — a potential near‑term headwind for fee growth and sentiment around BLK’s crypto strategy. BlackRock Moves Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase as Crypto ETF Outflows Grow

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.