Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Acquires 809 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,411 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $35,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 11,280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,073,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $268,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $473,000. Finally, Connective Portfolio Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,177,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s 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 value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 5,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.22, for a total transaction of $5,738,776.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,074,700.70. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $981.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $152.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,055.61 and its 200 day moving average is $1,084.14. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,308.89.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional inflows into BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) accelerated, with one report showing a large daily inflow that helped reverse several weeks of outflows — this supports fee and AUM growth for BlackRock’s digital-asset business. Bitcoin ETF inflows
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock publicly projects material revenue from its crypto business (reports cite a $500M annual revenue target), underpinning investor expectations for new fee streams beyond traditional asset management. Crypto revenue outlook
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced final March cash distributions for its iShares Premium Money Market ETF, a routine product distribution that supports the firm’s stable ETF franchise and signals ongoing product activity in core cash management offerings. iShares money market distribution
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock executives continue to lean into AI and tokenization as structural growth themes (CEO Larry Fink’s letters and commentary). This frames long-term strategy and product development but is a gradual catalyst rather than an immediate earnings driver. AI strategic framing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are expecting BlackRock’s upcoming quarterly results to show steady, high single-digit bottom-line growth — a reminder that near-term moves may be earnings-driven. Earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern on social channels surged after reports of $1.2B in private-credit withdrawals, fueling bearish sentiment about redemptions in private markets — a potential pressure point for BlackRock’s private-credit strategy and near-term AUM stability. Private credit withdrawals
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation and inquiries: Pomerantz announced an investigation into BlackRock investor claims, and there are active class-action notices tied to BlackRock-affiliated TCP Capital (TCPC) — litigation risk can pressure sentiment and add legal/PR distraction. Pomerantz investigation TCPC lawsuit

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.