Truist Financial Corp Purchases 6,633 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Truist Financial Corp increased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 233,967 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,633 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $272,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in BlackRock by 8.2% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,591,000 after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 29.3% during the third quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $1,280.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,106.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $171.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,081.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,107.40. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 48,305 shares of company stock worth $55,488,396 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Prediction markets and media now name Rick Rieder a frontrunner for Fed chair; elevated profile for BlackRock’s longtime fixed‑income head can boost confidence in the firm’s rate and bond expertise, and could be viewed as a strategic advantage for BLK’s large fixed‑income business. CNBC: The market thinks BlackRock’s Rick Rieder will be the next Fed chair
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remains the largest spot BTC ETF with strong AUM, low fees and a partnership (Delaware Life annuity) that supports long‑term product distribution and fee income for BLK. This is a durable growth channel in digital‑asset product revenue. CoinDesk: IBIT powers new Bitcoin annuity
• Positive Sentiment: Board upgrade: BlackRock elected Gregg R. Lemkau to its Board, adding a well‑connected investor and governance depth — a modest positive for oversight and investor relations. BusinessWire: BlackRock Elects Gregg Lemkau to Board
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s partner Securitize made a senior hire (former Nasdaq exec) — helpful for tokenization initiatives but indirect to BLK’s near‑term earnings. Yahoo Finance: Securitize hire
• Neutral Sentiment: BLK increased disclosed stakes in other companies (e.g., Caledonia Mining, Archer exposure reported by filings) — signals active portfolio moves but not immediate BLK earnings drivers. TipRanks: BlackRock lifts stake in Caledonia
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern: recent quarterly results showed an EPS beat but revenue missed estimates — investors may be selling into headlines as they parse growth sustainability and fee pressure. Seeking Alpha: Management’s latest numbers point to a hold
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit headwinds: coverage highlights rumblings and execution/asset‑quality questions in private credit exposure that could pressure fee and risk‑weighted returns for alternatives. That adds to risk sentiment across asset managers. TipRanks: Private credit trouble

BlackRock 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.