Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 2,136 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $303,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1,330.4% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $85,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total transaction of $1,312,572.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,086.28 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,079.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,093.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.59%.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Wall Street support and high analyst price targets reinforce upside expectations for BLK, backing the stock’s longer-term thesis. Quiver Quant: Analyst Ratings & Price Targets
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock publicly calls Bitcoin one of the biggest investment themes of 2025 — a signal that demand for crypto ETFs (and related fee pools) could support AUM growth and product innovation. CryptoBriefing: Bitcoin investment theme
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada announced estimated December cash distributions and annual reinvested capital gains for many iShares ETFs — an operational reminder of continued ETF scale (AUM ~US$5.2T) and recurring client flows that underpin fee revenue. GlobeNewswire: Estimated December Cash Distributions
• Neutral Sentiment: Canada named former BlackRock executive Mark Wiseman as its U.S. ambassador — reputationally positive for BlackRock’s talent pipeline but only indirectly relevant to BLK fundamentals. MSN: Canada names former BlackRock exec as US ambassador
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participated in institutional block purchases (e.g., Belrise Industries) and announced routine distribution schedules — activity that signals ongoing trading and product servicing but is not material to firm-level earnings. Economic Times: Belrise block deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show BlackRock disclosed and adjusted stakes in several European names (BAWAG, Orion) — routine portfolio moves that can affect localized voting power but are unlikely to change BLK’s revenue path. TipRanks: BAWAG stake disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock trimmed holdings in some listed companies (Flutter Entertainment; Orion filings show drop below 5%), which could be read as portfolio rotation or profit-taking and may trigger short-term investor concern about positioning. TipRanks: Reduced stake in Flutter
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts expect modest, low single-digit EPS growth for Q4 2025 ahead of next month’s earnings — watch AUM trends, ETF flows, and performance fees as the key drivers when BLK reports. Barchart: Q4 2025 earnings preview

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,360.00 to $1,340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,180.00 target price on the stock. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,316.18.

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.