BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Liberty One Investment Management LLC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 30.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,051,846,000 after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,264,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,705,193,000 after purchasing an additional 33,752 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 5,330,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,126,387,000 after purchasing an additional 237,667 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,197,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,563,524,000 after buying an additional 149,902 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $1,165.00 to $1,364.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,340.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research upgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $1,304.29.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.7%

BLK stock opened at $1,039.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,030.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,041.96. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.69 by $1.22. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 15.01%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $12.05 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, is leading a rebound in Bitcoin ETF flows, with inflows extending to seven straight days and nearly $1 billion returning to the category. That supports sentiment around BlackRock’s fast-growing ETF business. BlackRock’s IBIT Leads Nearly $1B Bitcoin ETF Recovery as Inflows Hit 7 Straight Days
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock also gained attention for joining Strategy, Coinbase, and others in a $15 million Bitcoin security consortium aimed at funding quantum-resistant protections for the network, reinforcing its role as a major institutional player in crypto infrastructure. BlackRock, Coinbase and Strategy Pledge $15M to Quantum-Proof Bitcoin
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to lean into large-scale infrastructure finance, including reports that BlackRock is helping fund Meta’s data-center buildout and that its Global Infrastructure Partners unit is exploring securitization tied to private capital stakes, which highlights fee-generating opportunities in private markets and AI-related investing. BlackRock Leads $12B Meta Data Center Debt, Buys Aligned
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock declared a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share, which underscores steady cash generation and may attract income-focused investors, but is not a major new growth catalyst. BlackRock Declares Quarterly Dividend of $5.73 on Common Stock
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds, which could create legal overhang and weigh on sentiment if the probe gains traction. BlackRock Investor News: If You Have Suffered Losses in BlackRock, Inc. Mutual Funds, You Are Encouraged to Contact The Rosen Law Firm About Your Rights

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.