Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 2,326 BlackRock $BLK

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,326 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 866.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 87.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,062.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.00, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,094.88 and a 200-day moving average of $1,103.15. 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 has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.84%.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock appointed Citi to provide select middle‑office services for roughly $4.0 trillion of U.S. iShares ETFs on the Aladdin platform — a scale partnership that should improve ETF processing and distribution efficiency and could help support ETF flows and fee revenue. BlackRock Appoints Citi to Provide Select ETF Middle Office Services on Aladdin
• Positive Sentiment: Spot crypto ETFs have shown renewed demand (multiple days of notable inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT among leaders) — positive for BlackRock’s crypto product franchise and potential fee/revenue upside if flows persist. Spot Bitcoin ETFs take in $1B in three days as investors buy the dip
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock‑owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), working with EQT, is reported to be near a deal to acquire AES Corp — a sign that BlackRock’s alternatives platform is active in large, fee‑generating transactions. BlackRock’s GIP, EQT near deal to acquire AES Corp, Bloomberg News reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show BlackRock has built an ~11% stake (about 12% voting power) in Qiagen — a portfolio move that is important for holdings disclosure but not necessarily material to BLK’s core earnings. BlackRock Builds 11% Stake and 12% Voting Power in Qiagen
• Neutral Sentiment: 13F/ownership notes (e.g., stake disclosure in IonQ) and smaller fund/structure moves keep BlackRock active across boutiques and ETFs but are largely informational for the firm’s diversified business. BlackRock Owns 24.3 Million Shares of IonQ. Here’s What That Really Tells You About Quantum Computing Stocks.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results show revenue growth but reports indicate operating profit, net income and EPS fell YoY — margin pressure and weaker profit metrics are weighing on near‑term earnings visibility. BlackRock Inc. Releases Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reporting that BlackRock was duped into a $430M loan tied to fake invoices raises operational/reputational questions around credit controls — a headline that can amplify investor caution. BlackRock duped into loaning $430M to telecom entrepreneur who allegedly faked invoices
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling by senior directors (recent Form 4 filings) is being watched by investors and can contribute to near‑term negative sentiment even if sales are for liquidity or option exercises. SEC Form 4 (insider sales)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays raised 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, UBS Group upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,311.11.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total transaction of $417,690.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 112,577 shares of company stock valued at $125,311,821 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.