Unisphere Establishment Grows Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Unisphere Establishment grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 911,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,700 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 7.4% of Unisphere Establishment’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Unisphere Establishment’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $876,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,389.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,258.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,145.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $1,304.29.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,054.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $163.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,029.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,042.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 15.01%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $12.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 55.63 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 54.78%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share, reinforcing confidence in the firm’s cash generation and shareholder returns. BlackRock Declares Quarterly Dividend of $5.73 on Common Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest in BlackRock’s ETF franchise remains strong, with reports highlighting continued momentum in iShares and the recovery in Bitcoin ETF inflows led by IBIT. BlackRock (BLK) Could Be 21% Below Fair Value As Dividend Signals Confidence BlackRock’s IBIT Leads Nearly $1B Bitcoin ETF Recovery as Inflows Hit 7 Straight Days
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is also being tied to large-scale growth opportunities, including a reported $12.3 billion bond financing for Meta’s Texas AI data facility, underscoring its reach in capital markets and infrastructure finance. BlackRock (BLK) Markets $12.3B in Bonds for Meta’s Texas AI Data Facility
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a larger stake in Qiagen, raising its voting power to 13%; this is notable for BlackRock’s portfolio activity, but it is not a direct catalyst for BLK earnings. BlackRock builds 11.6% stake in Qiagen, lifting voting power to 13%
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock joined other firms in a $15 million Bitcoin security consortium focused on quantum-resistant protections, a long-term strategic initiative with limited immediate financial impact. BlackRock, Coinbase and Strategy Pledge $15M to Quantum-Proof Bitcoin
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage noted bond investors demanding higher yields on the Meta-linked financing deal, which may reflect increased caution around AI infrastructure risk and could slightly pressure sentiment around BlackRock’s role in the transaction. Bond investors demand higher yields on BlackRock AI-linked financing deal

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.