Insider Selling: BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Director Sells $240,651.00 in Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Stephen Cohen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 11th, Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of BlackRock stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total transaction of $2,339,962.73.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,062.70 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,094.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,103.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.00, a PEG ratio of 1.37 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth $259,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.8% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock appointed Citi to provide select middle‑office services for roughly $4.0 trillion of U.S. iShares ETFs on the Aladdin platform — a scale partnership that should improve ETF processing and distribution efficiency and could help support ETF flows and fee revenue. BlackRock Appoints Citi to Provide Select ETF Middle Office Services on Aladdin
• Positive Sentiment: Spot crypto ETFs have shown renewed demand (multiple days of notable inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT among leaders) — positive for BlackRock’s crypto product franchise and potential fee/revenue upside if flows persist. Spot Bitcoin ETFs take in $1B in three days as investors buy the dip
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock‑owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), working with EQT, is reported to be near a deal to acquire AES Corp — a sign that BlackRock’s alternatives platform is active in large, fee‑generating transactions. BlackRock’s GIP, EQT near deal to acquire AES Corp, Bloomberg News reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show BlackRock has built an ~11% stake (about 12% voting power) in Qiagen — a portfolio move that is important for holdings disclosure but not necessarily material to BLK’s core earnings. BlackRock Builds 11% Stake and 12% Voting Power in Qiagen
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F/ownership notes (e.g., stake disclosure in IonQ) and smaller fund/structure moves keep BlackRock active across boutiques and ETFs but are largely informational for the firm’s diversified business. BlackRock Owns 24.3 Million Shares of IonQ. Here’s What That Really Tells You About Quantum Computing Stocks.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results show revenue growth but reports indicate operating profit, net income and EPS fell YoY — margin pressure and weaker profit metrics are weighing on near‑term earnings visibility. BlackRock Inc. Releases Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M loan tied to fake invoices raises operational/reputational questions around credit controls — a headline that can amplify investor caution. BlackRock duped into loaning $430M to telecom entrepreneur who allegedly faked invoices
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling by senior directors (recent Form 4 filings) is being watched by investors and can contribute to near‑term negative sentiment even if sales are for liquidity or option exercises. SEC Form 4 (insider sales)

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.