Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 72 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 817 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, PUREfi Wealth LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 460 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Bitcoin ETF inflows into BlackRock’s IBIT continue to drive AUM and fee momentum—IBIT led with $307M of inflows as spot-Bitcoin ETFs posted multi-day inflow streaks. Bitcoin ETFs pull in $462M
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion: BlackRock launched the iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF (USLN), opening index-based access to the $1.4T U.S. leveraged loan market—adds a new ETF revenue stream and distribution opportunity. BlackRock Launches USLN ETF
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is expanding its $52B iShares iBonds ETF franchise with nine new defined-maturity bond ETFs—helps capture fixed-income flows and bond-laddering demand. BlackRock Announces Plans to Expand iBonds
• Positive Sentiment: Aladdin win: Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo will extend use of BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth for its international banks unit—an institutional tech deal that supports recurring licensing revenue and market penetration. Intesa Sanpaolo to adopt Aladdin Wealth
• Neutral Sentiment: Private markets repositioning: BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners is leading a consortium to buy AES for $33.4B while exiting Naturgy—strategic reshaping of energy/infrastructure exposure that may affect future private-asset earnings but has timing and execution risk. BlackRock-led group to buy AES
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholdings updates: BlackRock disclosed stakes rising in OMV and Qiagen (crossed thresholds)—notable for proxy/activist watchers but unclear immediate earnings impact. BlackRock Lifts Stake in OMV BlackRock Lifts Stake in Qiagen
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit write-down: BlackRock took a sudden mark on a loan tied to an Amazon aggregator, reviving transparency and valuation concerns in the private-credit market and raising near-term earnings/AUM volatility worries. BlackRock Write-Down Jolts Private Credit Markets
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut BlackRock from “moderate buy” to “moderate sell,” which can pressure sentiment and short-term flows even as fundamentals remain mixed. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgrade noted

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. CICC Research raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,311.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. The trade was a 51.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.6%

BLK opened at $1,032.31 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,091.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,100.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $160.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share 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 $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 58.84%.

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.