Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $7.56 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock formally expanded into DeFi by listing its tokenized Treasury fund (BUIDL) on Uniswap and enabling on‑chain trading — a strategic move that broadens distribution channels for BlackRock’s digital‑asset products and could support future fee/AUM growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Income and earnings fundamentals: company reporting and corporate actions (recent EPS beat and an increased quarterly dividend to $5.73) provide support for income‑oriented investors and justify parts of the stock’s elevated multiple. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F / portfolio moves: recent SEC filings show large BlackRock fund repositioning (additions to IVV, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN and new sizable positions in tickers like Q, SOLS, LXP) — signals scale and active management but are informational about fund flows rather than an immediate BLK earnings driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine ownership disclosures: filings around a ~5% voting stake in BAWAG Group were posted — standard large‑investor activity with limited direct impact on BlackRock’s core management fees. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Robert Goldstein executed sizeable open‑market sales (Feb. 10–11; Form 4 filed). Large insider sales can weigh on near‑term sentiment even when they’re for diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported private‑credit loss: a WSJ report about a ~$400M loss linked to fake invoices in a BlackRock unit highlights execution and due‑diligence risk in private markets and can pressure the multiple investors assign to alternatives. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto headwinds: weakening crypto prices, ETF outflows and reports that some BlackRock crypto portfolios have trimmed BTC/ETH exposure could limit near‑term AUM and fee growth from digital‑asset offerings despite the Uniswap announcement. Read More.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.5%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,071.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,093.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,105.83. 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 has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $166.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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 business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 109,967 shares of company stock worth $122,487,380. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.11.

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.