Cerity Partners LLC Raises Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of BlackRock worth $162,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 43.4% during the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 823 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 9.7% in the third quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 3,136 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,656,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 6.1% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,327,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.4% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,633 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Massive one‑day inflows into bitcoin ETFs led by BlackRock’s IBIT (largest single ETF inflow), boosting fee-earning AUM and reinforcing BlackRock’s leadership in crypto ETFs. Bitcoin ETFs Pull $697M in One Day as BlackRock’s IBIT Leads Massive Market Inflows
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism that BLK is positioned to beat upcoming earnings again (strong surprise history, favorable revenue/fee mix) supports upside expectations for EPS and multiple expansion. Why BlackRock (BLK) is Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates Again
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock raised its stake in OMV above a 4% voting threshold, showing active portfolio/strategic moves that can signal growth opportunities or activist-style influence. BlackRock Increases Stake in OMV Above 4% Voting Rights Threshold
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s 2026 outlook emphasizes AI-driven opportunities but calls for selectivity — constructive for fund flows into thematic ETFs but implies stock/strategy dispersion. BlackRock’s 2026 outlook: AI fuels growth, but selectivity takes center stage
• Neutral Sentiment: Rick Rieder (CIO, Global Fixed Income) warns 2026 is a market for investors not gamblers — stewardship comments that may encourage longer-term allocations but reduce short-term risk-on trading. ‘2026 Is a Market for Investors, Not Gamblers,’ Says BlackRock’s Rick Rieder
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock fund commentaries (e.g., International Fund Q3) and ETF-strategy interviews (Jay Jacobs) reiterate product-level growth but are informational rather than immediate stock catalysts. BlackRock International Fund Q3 2025 Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock commentary on commodity opportunities (e.g., copper) highlights new thematic areas for clients, possibly supporting ETF/institutional flows over time. BlackRock Sees Prospect of ‘Very Exciting’ Copper Market
• Negative Sentiment: Speculative crypto token stories linking BlackRock to obscure tokens (e.g., Ozak AI token hype) create noise and reputational/volatility risk without substantiated corporate action — could distract/increase headline volatility. What Happens If BlackRock Quietly Enters Ozak AI? Analysts Say a Single Institutional Move Could Push This $0.014 Token to $5 by 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Background: last reported quarter saw a small EPS miss even as revenue grew strongly — that mixed print can keep some investors cautious ahead of the next report. BlackRock trading & recent results summary

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,486.00 to $1,514.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,316.18.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,112.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $172.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.47. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,067.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,101.22. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The business’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $11.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 53.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total transaction of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.