Griffith & Werner Inc. Purchases Shares of 740 BlackRock $BLK

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 740 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miramar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the third quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 10,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,064,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $201,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 7.2% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,546,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 15,850 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,479,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,052.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $163.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,093.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,101.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s infrastructure arm is part of a consortium that agreed to take AES private, a large deal that could generate fees and demonstrate deal‑flow for its infrastructure platform. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock confirmed a regular dividend payment on March 24 — supportive for income investors and a reminder of the firm’s long payout track record. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Flows into iShares ETFs tied to oil/defense themes have lifted some BlackRock ETF products amid market volatility, showing the firm’s ability to capture ETF demand during sector rotations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock is moving to sell an 11.4% stake in Spanish energy firm Naturgy and has appointed banks to execute the sale — a portfolio rebalancing step that could modestly affect reported holdings and realizations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed an increased stake in Austria’s BAWAG to just over 5% and continues active portfolio moves in Europe — signals of active capital allocation rather than material corporate change. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports note BlackRock’s involvement or ties in broader blockchain/financial infrastructure initiatives (ADI Chain/Chainlink mention). This is background partnership news with limited near‑term earnings impact. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/seizure issues in Panama are complicating a BlackRock‑backed buyer’s attempt to close CK Hutchison’s global ports deal without two Panama terminals — increased deal risk and legal uncertainty. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are lifting oil prices and driving a selloff in Treasuries (higher yields), reviving inflation worries that pressure equities and can hurt fee‑sensitive asset managers like BlackRock in the near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some BlackRock‑managed vehicles (e.g., BlackRock TCP Capital) reported NAV hits, which can spook income‑oriented investors and weigh on sentiment around the group’s credit/BDCs. Read More.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total transaction of $2,339,962.73. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.