UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $20.59 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 12.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,657 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,482 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 1.2% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 107.1% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% in the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,139.45 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $176.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,076.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,106.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BLK. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Argus upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Larry Fink pushed tokenization and blockchain adoption at Davos, highlighting BlackRock’s tokenized money-market fund (BUIDL) and arguing a common blockchain could cut costs and boost distribution — a strategic signal that could expand fee-bearing products and Aladdin-related services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large BlackRock-linked wallets moved more than $430M in bitcoin and ether into Coinbase Prime, indicating continued institutional activity and demand for custody/prime services that support BlackRock’s crypto product ecosystem (including its spot-BTC ETF). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock enabled additional distribution of BTC exposure via a partnership with Delaware Life, channeling Bitcoin-linked returns into a fixed index annuity — a new institutional/insurance distribution route that can grow AUM for its crypto-friendly products. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its disclosed stake in AngloGold Ashanti to just over 10%, a notable equity position that signals active portfolio repositioning and potential influence in mining sector allocations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock adjusted other public stakes (e.g., BAWAG Group to 5.83%, Light & Wonder disclosure) — routine portfolio moves that reflect rebalancing rather than immediate fee or revenue changes. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Rick Rieder (BlackRock’s head of fixed income) surfaced in headlines as odds for a Fed chair nomination rose after remarks from President Trump — a reputational/regulatory-watch item that could increase BlackRock’s influence but carries political dynamics. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Martin Small disclosed the sale of 27,047 BlackRock shares (~$31.7M at reported prices), cutting his direct holding by ~72% — an insider sale that some investors will view as a near-term negative signal. Read More.

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.