Griffith & Werner Inc. Invests $801,000 in BlackRock $BLK

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

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 866.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,052.93 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,093.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,101.51. The company has a market capitalization of $163.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. 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 paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 58.84%.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.