Federated Hermes Inc. Has $63.37 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,353 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,682 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $63,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,680,334,000 after buying an additional 227,192 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,281,641,000 after acquiring an additional 34,049 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after acquiring an additional 842,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,314.71.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and MSCI extended their long-term equity index licensing pact, preserving a steady revenue stream tied to index licensing and ETF indexing that supports recurring fees. MSCI, BlackRock extend long-term equity index licensing pact
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock co-led a $257M Series D for cell‑therapy automation company Cellares, showing continued private-market deal activity and growth in alternatives that can boost fee diversification and long‑term AUM. Cellares Raises $257 Million Series D Led by BlackRock and Eclipse
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock added Gregg R. Lemkau to its board, strengthening governance with an experienced investor whose network and deal expertise could aid strategic oversight. BlackRock Elects Gregg Lemkau to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed it boosted its stake in Archer Aviation — a sign of conviction in selected private/public growth bets; this demonstrates active portfolio deployment but has limited near-term impact on BLK’s fee base. Did BlackRock Build A New Floor for Archer’s Stock Price?
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock filed for another Bitcoin ETF, expanding its crypto product lineup; filings signal potential future revenue and market share gains in digital-asset ETF flows but depend on approvals and investor adoption. BlackRock Drops Another Bitcoin ETF, But No Sign Of An XRP ETF
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation that BlackRock’s Rick Rieder is a frontrunner for Fed chair keeps the firm in headlines; markets interpret his fixed‑income stature as a potential tailwind for rate-sensitive flows, though the development also raises governance and political scrutiny questions. The market thinks BlackRock’s Rick Rieder will be the next Fed chair
• Negative Sentiment: Critical commentary on BlackRock’s new covered‑call Bitcoin ETF warns of a crowded product market and potential investor misalignment; such criticism can temper enthusiasm for fee expansion in niche ETF strategies. BlackRock’s New Covered Call Bitcoin ETF Is Another Red Flag for a Dangerous Investing Trend
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed an EPS beat but revenue below some estimates; AUM and revenue growth remain strong year‑over‑year, supporting investor confidence in fee durability despite mixed top‑line prints. BlackRock recent earnings summary

BlackRock Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,121.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $173.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,083.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,107.49. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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