Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 71,403 BlackRock $BLK

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 71,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $83,247,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.8% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,680,334,000 after buying an additional 227,192 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after acquiring an additional 34,049 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after acquiring an additional 842,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,127.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The stock has a market cap of $174.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,086.07 and a 200-day moving average of $1,107.63. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors 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 2.0%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s head of fixed income, is widely viewed as a leading candidate for Fed chair; markets are treating his potential appointment as supportive for bond markets and for BlackRock’s stature and policy influence. Fed favorite Rick Rieder manages a $2.4 trillion BlackRock portfolio—and knows more about the bond market than anyone in America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade from Freedom Capital raised BLK’s price target (cited lift to $1,364), reflecting confidence in earnings potential and reinforcing buy-side sentiment. Freedom Capital Boosts BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) Target Amid Strong Earnings Potential
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and Partners Group launched a private-markets SMA for wealth platforms, expanding distribution to high-net-worth channels and monetizable AUM sources. This supports fee-growth diversification. BlackRock, Partners Group Launch Private Markets SMA
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock extended a long-term index licensing pact with MSCI, a distribution/operational win that helps stabilize passive product offerings and indexing relationships. MSCI, BlackRock extend long-term equity index licensing pact
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-backed financing led a $257M Series D for Cellares, signaling continued strategic venture investing and potential upside from private-tech exposure in its balance of alternatives. Cellares Raises $257 Million Series D Led by BlackRock and Eclipse
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock filed another Bitcoin ETF and a covered-call version surfaced, extending its crypto product push — filings themselves draw attention but not guaranteed immediate revenue. BlackRock Drops Another Bitcoin ETF, But No Sign Of An XRP ETF, What’s Going On?
• Negative Sentiment: A WSJ report highlighted a BlackRock fund that disclosed a 19% markdown after previously marking holdings full-value, reigniting concerns about transparency and valuation risk in private-credit allocations. That could pressure sentiment around illiquid asset exposure and fee sustainability. How a BlackRock Loss Reignited Worries About What Is Hiding in Private-Credit
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary criticizes the proliferation of covered-call crypto ETFs (including BlackRock’s new covered-call Bitcoin product) as a potentially risky product glut that could hurt long-term investor outcomes and attract regulatory scrutiny. BlackRock’s New Covered Call Bitcoin ETF Is Another Red Flag for a Dangerous Investing Trend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BLK shares. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

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.