ProShare Advisors LLC Has $33.60 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,818 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,448 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $33,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its stake in BlackRock by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $700,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake 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 buying an additional 19,404 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock raised its annual dividend ~10% (from $5.21 to $5.73), payable March 24 to holders of record March 6 — this boosts yield and signals capital-return confidence. BlackRock Dividend Increase
• Positive Sentiment: A Texas judge struck down a state law that would have blacklisted firms using ESG criteria (naming BlackRock), a ruling that eases regulatory pressure on ESG-focused asset managers and could limit similar anti-ESG measures in other states. Rejection of Texas law…
• Positive Sentiment: Reports continue to show strong institutional flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, a trend that benefits BlackRock via IBIT and supports fee-based AUM growth and recurring revenue. (Coverage cites ETF inflows and related market mechanics that favor issuers like BlackRock.) Bitcoin ETFs Extend Inflow Streak…
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock presented at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference; the transcript provides management commentary on strategy, flows and market outlook — useful for modeling AUM and fees but not a single catalyst. BlackRock Presents at Bank of America…
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show portfolio moves (ceased to be substantial in SiteMinder; trimmed stake in BAWAG; sub‑5% holdings disclosed in Stora Enso). These are routine institutional rebalancings with limited material impact on BLK fundamentals. BlackRock Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in SiteMinder
• Negative Sentiment: Investors filed a lawsuit alleging BlackRock executives colluded on climate-related matters; new litigation increases legal uncertainty and headline risk that can pressure the stock if it escalates. BlackRock execs hit with investor lawsuit…
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~21.9% in January to ~1.50M shares (≈1.0% of float), increasing potential downside pressure and signaling some investors are positioning for near-term weakness; short-interest ratio about 2 days. (No article link provided.)

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,305 shares of company stock worth $55,488,396. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

BLK opened at $1,086.77 on Wednesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,093.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,106.67.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm’s revenue 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. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. CICC Research boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.11.

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.