Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 1,152 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,788 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,152 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CICC Research raised its price target on BlackRock to $1,250 from $1,000, signaling analyst confidence in BLK’s earnings growth and valuation upside — this can support buying interest. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock filed for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF that would use covered‑call strategies to generate yield — a new product that could attract inflows and fee revenue if approved and marketed successfully. MarketBeat
• Positive Sentiment: VistaShares’ new Treasury-plus-Bitcoin fund gains Bitcoin exposure via call options on BlackRock’s IBIT, indicating continued market demand for BlackRock’s crypto ETF products and derivative liquidity. Cointelegraph
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s GIP is reported to have teamed with EQT in a bid for AES, which highlights deal‑making that could expand infrastructure AUM and fee opportunities if the consortium succeeds. Financial Post
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock marginally increased its stake in Austria’s BAWAG Group — routine portfolio/ownership shifts that are unlikely to move BLK shares materially by themselves. TipRanks
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in Qiagen (regulatory filing disclosure) — standard reporting that may affect cross‑holdings but not core operations. TipRanks
• Neutral Sentiment: Report that a BlackRock entity (Portfolio Management LLC) bought 752,500 shares of YSS shows the firm acting as an investor/asset manager rather than signaling BLK corporate moves — informational but not directly value‑creating for BLK stock. Quiver Quantitative
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage flagged a valuation check after a loan write‑down and shifts in Bitcoin ETF flows — issues that raise short‑term earnings and valuation concern for BLK and can pressure the stock. Yahoo Finance
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that BlackRock moved over $670M in Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase may reflect rebalancing or client flows; markets sometimes interpret large crypto transfers as potential outflows or liquidity shifts, which can weigh on sentiment. CryptoBriefing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen cut BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $1,280.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Trading Down 4.4%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,070.93 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,090.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,108.12.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase 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 presently 58.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 48,305 shares of company stock worth $55,488,396 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.