Xponance Inc. Sells 949 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Xponance Inc. trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 949 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $24,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 87.5% during the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,089.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,094.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,104.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large spot Bitcoin ETF inflows — US spot Bitcoin ETFs including BlackRock’s IBIT pulled in heavy net flows (about $1B over three days), suggesting continued demand for BlackRock’s crypto ETF franchise and potential fee growth if flows persist. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Middle‑office scale deal with Citi — BlackRock appointed Citi to provide select middle‑office services for roughly $4T of U.S. iShares ETFs on Aladdin, a move that should improve processing efficiency and support ETF distribution. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and optimism on evolving profit mix — recent coverage highlights UBS and other firms lifting ratings/targets as BlackRock expands alternatives, digital assets and ETF tech (supports longer‑term earnings upside). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic investments into DeFi/AI ecosystems — participation in DeFi infrastructure deals and AI chip funding signals diversification into higher‑growth areas that could boost future fee pools. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Debate over Bitcoin market microstructure — public pushback against claims that a single market maker (Jane Street) is manipulating daily BTC moves reduces single‑counterparty risk concerns for BlackRock’s IBIT, but overall crypto volatility remains a flow driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fund and trust reorganization news — smaller‑company trust merger and a marginal stake change in BAWAG are operational updates with limited direct impact on BLK’s core results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 profit and cash‑flow weakness — third‑party summaries show revenue rose but operating profit, net income and EPS fell materially YoY, with operating cash flow down—raising near‑term margin and profitability concerns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/reputational hit from a $430M loan fraud — reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M loan tied to alleged fake invoices creates risk around underwriting controls and could pressure sentiment until clarified. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling — recent director and senior‑manager share sales (disclosed Form 4s) are being watched by investors and can weigh on sentiment even if they reflect routine liquidity or option exercises. Read More.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total transaction of $5,738,776.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,577 shares of company stock valued at $125,311,821. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.