Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires 5,008 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,008 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 760 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. CNB Bank raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.6% in the second quarter. CNB Bank now owns 103 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 14.3% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 72 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BLK. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, CICC Research raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Stock Down 4.4%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,070.93 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $166.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,090.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,108.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

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

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CICC Research raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,250 from $1,000, signaling analyst confidence in BLK’s earnings growth and valuation upside — this can support buying interest. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock filed for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF that would use covered‑call strategies to generate yield — a new product that could attract inflows and fee revenue if approved and marketed successfully. MarketBeat
• Positive Sentiment: VistaShares’ new Treasury-plus-Bitcoin fund gains Bitcoin exposure via call options on BlackRock’s IBIT, indicating continued market demand for BlackRock’s crypto ETF products and derivative liquidity. Cointelegraph
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s GIP is reported to have teamed with EQT in a bid for AES, which highlights deal‑making that could expand infrastructure AUM and fee opportunities if the consortium succeeds. Financial Post
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock marginally increased its stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group — routine portfolio/ownership shifts that are unlikely to move BLK shares materially by themselves. TipRanks
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in Qiagen (regulatory filing disclosure) — standard reporting that may affect cross‑holdings but not core operations. TipRanks
• Neutral Sentiment: Report that a BlackRock entity (Portfolio Management LLC) bought 752,500 shares of YSS shows the firm acting as an investor/asset manager rather than signaling BLK corporate moves — informational but not directly value‑creating for BLK stock. Quiver Quantitative
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage flagged a valuation check after a loan write‑down and shifts in Bitcoin ETF flows — issues that raise short‑term earnings and valuation concern for BLK and can pressure the stock. Yahoo Finance
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock moved over $670M in Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase may reflect rebalancing or client flows; markets sometimes interpret large crypto transfers as potential outflows or liquidity shifts, which can weigh on sentiment. CryptoBriefing

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.