Impax Asset Management Group plc Acquires New Shares in BlackRock $BLK

Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 940 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,644,007,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,789,915,000 after buying an additional 1,704,280 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 72.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after buying an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1,962.0% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 792,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $831,524,000 after buying an additional 754,060 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 29,043.2% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 245,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $285,748,000 after buying an additional 244,253 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. This trade represents a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 107,788 shares of company stock valued at $120,147,417 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a first‑of‑its‑kind institutional DeFi integration by listing its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) on Uniswap and buying UNI tokens — a move that broadens BlackRock’s digital‑assets distribution channels and signals new product reach and potential fee/asset flows. BlackRock enters DeFi, taps Uniswap for institutional token trading
• Neutral Sentiment: SEC 13F disclosures and fund updates show large portfolio repositioning by BlackRock’s funds (big additions to IVV, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN and new sizable positions in tickers like Q, SOLS, LXP) — illustrates active asset management scale but is informational for fund flows rather than an immediate company earnings signal. Fund Update: BlackRock, Inc. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/ownership notices: BlackRock’s voting stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group was recently disclosed around the 5% threshold (movements reported both up and slightly down across entities) — a routine large‑investor disclosure with limited direct impact on BLK’s core business. BlackRock Raises Voting Stake in BAWAG Group to 5.77%
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Robert L. Goldstein executed large open‑market sales on Feb. 10–11 (totaling ~59k shares, SEC Form 4 filed) — sizable insider sales can pressure sentiment and raise investor questions even if sales are for diversification or tax reasons. SEC Form 4 disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of portfolio and product risk: WSJ reports a $400M loss tied to fake invoices at a BlackRock unit’s private‑credit position, highlighting execution and due‑diligence risks in its private markets business — a reputational and P&L headline that can weigh on valuation multiple. How Fake Invoices Duped BlackRock Unit Into a $400 Million Loan
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto headwinds: crypto market weakness and reporting that BlackRock has pared Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure in some crypto portfolios could reduce near‑term AUM and fee growth in digital‑asset products and dampen enthusiasm from the earlier Uniswap announcement. Major Institutional Shift? Bitcoin And Ethereum Are Steadily Leaving BlackRock’s Crypto Portfolio

BlackRock Stock Down 2.5%

BLK stock opened at $1,055.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $163.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,093.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,106.15. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 58.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen cut BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

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.