Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,704,363 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $259,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% in 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 period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,149,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. TD Cowen lowered BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.5%

BLK opened at $1,062.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,094.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,102.75. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 58.84%.

BlackRock News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock appointed Citi to provide select middle?office services for roughly $4.0 trillion of U.S. iShares ETFs on the Aladdin platform — a scale partnership that should improve ETF processing and distribution efficiency and could help support ETF flows and fee revenue. BlackRock Appoints Citi to Provide Select ETF Middle Office Services on Aladdin
• Positive Sentiment: Spot crypto ETFs have shown renewed demand (multiple days of notable inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT among leaders) — positive for BlackRock’s crypto product franchise and potential fee/revenue upside if flows persist. Spot Bitcoin ETFs take in $1B in three days as investors buy the dip
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock?owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), working with EQT, is reported to be near a deal to acquire AES Corp — a sign that BlackRock’s alternatives platform is active in large, fee?generating transactions. BlackRock’s GIP, EQT near deal to acquire AES Corp, Bloomberg News reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show BlackRock has built an ~11% stake (about 12% voting power) in Qiagen — a portfolio move that is important for holdings disclosure but not necessarily material to BLK’s core earnings. BlackRock Builds 11% Stake and 12% Voting Power in Qiagen
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F/ownership notes (e.g., stake disclosure in IonQ) and smaller fund/structure moves keep BlackRock active across boutiques and ETFs but are largely informational for the firm’s diversified business. BlackRock Owns 24.3 Million Shares of IonQ. Here’s What That Really Tells You About Quantum Computing Stocks.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results show revenue growth but reports indicate operating profit, net income and EPS fell YoY — margin pressure and weaker profit metrics are weighing on near?term earnings visibility. BlackRock Inc. Releases Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M loan tied to fake invoices raises operational/reputational questions around credit controls — a headline that can amplify investor caution. BlackRock duped into loaning $430M to telecom entrepreneur who allegedly faked invoices
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling by senior directors (recent Form 4 filings) is being watched by investors and can contribute to near?term negative sentiment even if sales are for liquidity or option exercises. SEC Form 4 (insider sales)

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 6,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.