Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $30.33 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $700,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 19,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is bringing its $2.1B tokenized Treasury fund (BUIDL) to Uniswap, enabling 24/7 on‑chain trading for institutional tokenized cash products and signaling a major institutional move into DeFi and tokenized real‑world assets. This expands BlackRock’s distribution channels and bolsters its digital‑asset credibility. BlackRock enters DeFi, taps Uniswap for institutional token trading
• Positive Sentiment: The Uniswap integration also prompted BlackRock to buy an undisclosed amount of UNI and helped UNI rally — a market reaction that underscores investor belief this partnership could open new fee, distribution or partnership opportunities for BlackRock’s digital‑asset business. BlackRock Makes Historic DeFi Move As Uniswap Deal Sends UNI 15%
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its dividend ~10% (to $5.73/share), supporting yield‑seeking investor demand and reinforcing cash return policy. That helps the stock’s income appeal even as markets rotate. BlackRock Dividend Increase
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing iShares market ETFs (IVV, QQQM, IWM) highlights how flows across BLK’s flagship ETFs act as a barometer of investor sentiment; useful for gauging mutual fund/ETF inflows but not an immediate price catalyst. IVV, QQQM, and IWM: 3 iShares Market ETFs to Watch Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presentation transcript from the Bank of America Financial Services Conference provides fresh commentary and posture on strategy and flows — useful for modeling AUM/fee trends but not a standalone shock. BlackRock Presents at Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: WSJ reports BlackRock’s HPS unit was duped by fake invoices leading to a ~$400M loan write‑off — a concrete reminder of credit risk exposure in private‑credit investments and a potential hit to earnings or goodwill for related strategies. How Fake Invoices Duped BlackRock Unit Into a $400 Million Loan
• Negative Sentiment: Reports show BlackRock has been reducing its BTC and ETH exposure in its crypto portfolios, which may indicate a more cautious stance on direct crypto allocations and could weigh on growth expectations for its digital‑assets unit. Bitcoin And Ethereum Are Steadily Leaving BlackRock’s Crypto Portfolio
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock executives face an investor lawsuit alleging climate‑collusion; any legal/PR fallout could pressure the stock and complicate stewardship or ESG positioning. BlackRock execs hit with investor lawsuit over alleged climate collusion
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~21.9% in mid‑January to ~1.5M shares (≈1.0% of float), signaling some incremental bearish bets and potential volatility ahead of earnings/AUM updates. Data source: internal entries

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group set a $1,280.00 target price 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 given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

BLK stock opened at $1,083.16 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,093.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,106.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

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.