BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 30,742 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 30.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 30,742 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $79,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in BlackRock by 6,347.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,579 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its position in BlackRock by 25.7% in the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.7% during the third quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 7,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,084,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,547,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ValueAct’s David Morfit disclosed a position in BlackRock and said the firm’s technology initiatives could make BlackRock “more powerful,” signaling potential activist support and strategic upside for the asset manager. ValueAct’s Morfit announces BlackRock position
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its BLK price target to $1,340 and kept an outperform rating — a sizable analyst-upside that supports the stock’s valuation expectations. Keefe Bruyette Woods adjusts price target on BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of a Hong Kong-linked firm and other large buyers putting significant capital into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) highlight continued institutional demand for IBIT flows and fee-generating ETF assets. That demand can support revenues tied to ETF AUM. Mystery firm pours $436M into BlackRock’s ETF
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly bullish on BLK’s medium-term growth despite recent underperformance, supporting buy-side interest and giving the stock fundamental backing. BlackRock Stock: Analyst Estimates & Ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: Jane Street and other market-maker 13F filings showed large IBIT positions, sparking manipulation rumors — but market-structure experts say those filings are consistent with dealer inventory/hedging rather than directional bets, so the impact on BLK is uncertain. Is Jane Street manipulating Bitcoin? The viral theory explained
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock trimmed a stake in a bitcoin-proxy strategy but remains the top shareholder — a modest repositioning that keeps it central to crypto ETF market dynamics without changing the company’s ETF leadership role. BlackRock trims stake in Bitcoin proxy Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory filings show new disclosed stakes in Qiagen and a sub‑5% indirect holding in Stora Enso — portfolio moves that matter for disclosure but are unlikely to shift BLK’s core business metrics materially. BlackRock Discloses stake in Qiagen
• Negative Sentiment: Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by BlackRock directors/officers — litigation or governance scrutiny can create headline risk and investor unease. Rosen Law Firm investigation of BlackRock
• Negative Sentiment: Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows and a sharp slowdown in trading volume this week; weaker IBIT flows and crypto volatility can pressure fee growth tied to those ETFs. Bitcoin ETFs log $105M outflows as mystery IBIT buyer surfaces
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting that BLK “slid on investors’ concerns” points to short-term profit-taking and sentiment-driven volatility following the mix of news above. BlackRock (BLK) Slid on Investors’ Concerns

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. Evercore reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group set a $1,280.00 price target on BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,082.23 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,093.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,105.07. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total value of $2,339,962.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 109,967 shares of company stock worth $122,487,380. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.