BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $21,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased 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 lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 866.7% in the third quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, CICC Research upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,308.89.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is expanding its iShares iBonds ETF franchise — nine new defined‑maturity bond ETFs across Treasuries, TIPS, corporates, high yield and muni markets — which supports fee growth and ETF distribution strength. BlackRock Announces Plans to Expand iBonds ETF Franchise
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched the iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF (USLN), opening index‑based access to the $1.4T leveraged‑loan market — a distribution/growth opportunity for its ETF business. BlackRock Launches USLN ETF
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional adoption of BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth continues: Intesa Sanpaolo will extend use of Aladdin Wealth for its international banks unit, supporting recurring technology revenue. Intesa Sanpaolo to adopt BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory disclosure: BlackRock disclosed its stake in Finland’s Orion Corp lifted above 5%, a routine holdings disclosure with little immediate impact on BLK’s fundamentals. Orion Corporation disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Market shock: BlackRock capped withdrawals from a $26B private‑credit vehicle after redemption requests exceeded the periodic limit, prompting a broad selloff in BLK and peers as investors reassess liquidity risk in private credit. Forbes: BlackRock Shares Tumble After Limits
• Negative Sentiment: Credit stress: Reporting says BlackRock took a $25M loan write‑off and faced roughly $1.2B in redemption requests tied to private credit, underscoring valuation and liquidity risks in opaque private loan portfolios. Blockonomi: Loan Write-Off & Redemptions
• Negative Sentiment: Contagion risk: The move put alternative asset managers (Blackstone, Apollo, KKR, Ares, Blue Owl) under scrutiny as investors test redemption mechanics across private‑credit and alternative strategies. Benzinga: Peers Under Watch
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction: Evercore trimmed its price target modestly, reflecting near‑term caution after the private‑credit developments. Analyst downgrades/target cuts could add selling pressure if more follow. MarketScreener: Evercore Adjusts Price Target

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $953.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,089.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,099.40. The firm has a market cap of $148.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.93 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total value of $2,339,962.73. Following the sale, the director owned 6,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. This represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at $55,971,514.62. The trade was a 51.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.