BlackRock $BLK Position Reduced by Vaughan David Investments LLC IL

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 54,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,267 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.4% of Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $62,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in BlackRock by 8.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 19,404 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,201,000. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,867,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer gave an emphatic bullish endorsement for BlackRock on-air, which can drive short-term retail buying and sentiment momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst price target was raised to $1,550, signaling stronger sell?side conviction after BlackRock’s latest beats and helping justify higher valuation multiples. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock reported record assets under management and revenue growth in recent results, backing durable fee income and EPS upside. This underpins the bullish analyst action and investor optimism. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Spot Bitcoin ETF flows remain strong and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led inflows in recent weeks, boosting fee revenue prospects and drawing institutional attention to BlackRock’s ETF franchise. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Media reports that prominent investors shifted into spot Bitcoin ETFs (benefitting IBIT) reinforce demand narratives for BlackRock’s ETFs and may attract more flows. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder is being reported as a finalist for the Federal Reserve chair role — a development that raises the firm’s profile and could be seen as positive for BlackRock’s industry influence. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced routine January cash distributions for iShares ETFs listed in Canada — expected, regular payouts that have limited market-moving impact. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Orion Corporation disclosed BlackRock crossed a 5% ownership threshold — a standard regulatory filing reflecting position size, not an operational change. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s strategic update mentioned job cuts alongside restructuring — a potential near-term cost but also a signal of execution risk and one-time charges that investors will watch. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Cowen downgraded BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,164.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,073.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,105.89. The company has a market cap of $180.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 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 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,346.42. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.