BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 362,766 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,836 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $422,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and Partners Group rolled out a first‑of‑its‑kind private markets SMA for wealthy investors, offering three portfolio mixes (income, balanced growth, growth) and access to funds from BlackRock, HPS and Partners Group — a move that can expand fee‑bearing AUM and wealthy‑client distribution channels. BlackRock and Partners Group Launch Joint Private Markets Account for Wealthy Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report the new SMAs and wealth‑platform integrations that widen private‑markets access for high‑net‑worth clients — an incremental distribution channel that could raise recurring fees and retention. BlackRock, Partners Group roll out private markets SMA
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is adding profit‑sharing for private‑markets staff to compete with Apollo, Blackstone, KKR and others — a deliberate push to retain and hire alts talent, which supports long‑term growth in higher‑margin alternative products. $14 trillion asset manager BlackRock unveils its newest weapon in Wall Street ‘alts’ talent war: profit sharing from private markets
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional activity tied to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund boosted tokenized real‑world assets on Avalanche (TVL up sharply), highlighting BlackRock’s push into tokenization and digital liquidity even as the native token underperformed — strategic innovation that could open new product lines but carries crypto execution risk. BlackRock’s BUIDL aids Avalanche tokenization value boom in Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation that BlackRock might enter a spot XRP ETF by late‑2026 reflects ongoing crypto product optionality; this signals potential future revenue streams but is timing‑and‑demand dependent. BlackRock XRP ETF Next? Canary CEO Eyes Late 2026
• Negative Sentiment: A WSJ report highlighted a recent BlackRock loss and a 19% write‑down in a private‑credit position that had previously been marked at full value — reigniting investor worries about valuation transparency and downside in private‑credit portfolios, which likely drove some of today’s selling pressure. How a BlackRock Loss Reignited Worries About What Is Hiding in Private-Credit

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,117.52 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,088.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,108.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.