MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Cuts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,729 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 743 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $18,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth about $259,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,725 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other 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-backed staked-ETH product and related ETF flows are drawing institutional interest, which can boost fee-bearing AUM and revenue over time. Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis: Can $385M ETF Inflows Spark a Major Rally?
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced March cash distributions for many iShares ETFs — a sign of ongoing product cash flows and client engagement in Canada that supports predictable ETF income and retention. BlackRock® Canada Announces March Cash Distributions for the iShares® ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder publicly backed the Fed’s “patience” on rates and called recent energy-driven inflation spikes “episodic,” messaging that could calm investors and support risk assets (beneficial for asset managers’ flows). BlackRock’s Rick Rieder says Fed ‘patience’ is right call despite $820 billion market rout, oil spike
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/ownership disclosure: BlackRock’s stake in Finnish drugmaker Orion dropped below 5% — a routine portfolio move that has limited direct impact on BLK but is a public holdings change. Orion Corporation: Disclosure Under Chapter 9 Section 10 of the Securities Market Act (BlackRock, Inc.)
• Neutral Sentiment: World Economic Forum governance changes under discussion could consolidate influence among trustees, including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink — reputational/governance risk to monitor but uncertain financial impact. World Economic Forum explores trustee shake-up after scandals
• Neutral Sentiment: Larry Fink’s comments warning AI could worsen unemployment for new graduates reinforce BlackRock’s leadership role in policy debates—important for reputation but not an immediate earnings driver. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warns AI is creating a ‘crisis’ for Gen Z workers
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz launched an investor investigation into BlackRock, which raises potential litigation risk and can increase short-term share-price pressure due to uncertainty and legal costs. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of BlackRock, Inc. – BLK

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,308.89.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2%

BLK opened at $958.10 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $149.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,062.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,086.96.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.