Vest Financial LLC Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Vest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,284 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $41,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 7.0% in the second quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 6.5% during the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 869 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $286,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delaware Life added Bitcoin exposure to a fixed annuity that uses BlackRock’s ETFs, a distribution win that could support IBIT flows over time and deepen institutional placement for BlackRock’s products. Delaware Life Adds Bitcoin Exposure to Fixed Annuity via BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock raised its voting stake in Siemens Energy to just over 8%, signaling active ownership that can increase influence and possibly unlock value in portfolio companies. BlackRock Raises Voting Stake in Siemens Energy to Just Over 8%
• Positive Sentiment: Media/TV attention — Jim Cramer publicly praised BlackRock, which can buoy investor sentiment in the near term. “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner,” Says Jim Cramer About BlackRock (BLK)
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced January cash distributions for multiple iShares ETFs — routine but supportive of ETF investor demand and product continuity. BlackRock® Canada Announces January Cash Distributions for the iShares® ETFs
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock executives spoke at Davos about geopolitics, AI and inflation — high-profile positioning that provides strategic context but no immediate earnings impact. Davos: BlackRock’s Hildebrand on Geopolitics, Europe’s Role, AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/shareholder filings: Caledonia Mining and Orion disclosed BlackRock crossing AIM/5% thresholds in their registries — routine disclosure of holdings increases without direct company-level revenue impact. Caledonia Mining Reports BlackRock Stake Increase Above AIM Disclosure Threshold
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. Bitcoin ETFs saw approximately $488M of net outflows in a day; BlackRock’s IBIT experienced notable withdrawals (~$57M). Heavy crypto ETF outflows are a direct revenue/asset-pressure channel for BlackRock’s recently launched spot-Bitcoin product. This is the most direct, near-term negative catalyst. Bitcoin ETFs Log Off $488.38M as GBTC by Grayscale Takes the Lead
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto rumor: reports circulated that BlackRock made a billion-dollar XRP purchase—unconfirmed and potentially market-moving; rumors like this can create short-term volatility and investor uncertainty. Did BlackRock Make A Billion-Dollar XRP Bet? Here’s The Real Tea
• Negative Sentiment: Political/leadership noise: a BlackRock executive (Rick Rieder) is reported among Fed chair contenders — while this could raise the firm’s profile, it also draws BlackRock into political scrutiny and could amplify regulatory/policy risk perceptions. BlackRock’s Rick Rieder reportedly among final contenders for Fed chair role

BlackRock Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,127.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,073.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,106.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 58.84%.

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.