BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CFO Martin Small Sells 27,047 Shares of Stock

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was 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 owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Martin Small also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 1st, Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of BlackRock stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,128.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,074.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,106.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Argus upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $1,280.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Larry Fink’s Davos comments that AI spending “is favoring big players” reinforce the view that BlackRock’s size and tech investments position it to capture disproportionate asset flows and fee opportunities. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Delaware Life added a fixed annuity that uses BlackRock indices and ETFs to provide bitcoin exposure — a distribution win that can help drive AUM for BlackRock’s spot-BTC ETF and related products over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Positive media/support: Jim Cramer highlighted BlackRock favorably, a sentiment boost that can attract retail interest and short-term flows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock increased disclosed stakes in several public companies (Siemens Energy, Orion Corporation, Caledonia Mining) — signals of active equity positioning that can be interpreted as confidence in select sectors but are not direct AUM drivers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced routine January cash distributions for iShares ETFs — supports steady ETF client servicing and predictable cash yield for Canadian investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive commentary from Vice Chairman Philipp Hildebrand at Davos on geopolitics and AI provides strategic narrative but is informational rather than an immediate financial catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/peer comparisons (e.g., Zacks piece comparing Patria Investments vs. BlackRock) are background valuation reads that may influence longer-term investor allocation decisions more than today’s moves. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. bitcoin ETFs had net outflows on the day, including BlackRock’s IBIT — a headwind to short-term AUM and fee revenue continuity in crypto products. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Unverified reports of a large BlackRock XRP purchase circulated in crypto media — a noise event that can spur speculation and regulatory scrutiny; currently unconfirmed and should be treated cautiously. Read More.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.