Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Price

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) had its price target cut by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $1,340.00 to $1,150.00 in a report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.66% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on BLK. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, CICC Research upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,260.83.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,002.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,018.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,072.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $156.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $833.09 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $11.93 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional ETH buy and staking support — BlackRock reportedly purchased $60.8M of Ether for its ETF on April 7, the biggest single‑day ETH ETF buy in months, signalling continued institutional demand for its crypto products and potential AUM inflows. Blockonomi: Ethereum price prediction / BlackRock ETH buy
• Positive Sentiment: ETHB product expansion — BlackRock added Galaxy Digital as an approved validator for its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB), broadening institutional validator relationships and supporting staking capacity for a growing crypto ETF. Blockonomi: BlackRock adds Galaxy Digital to ETHB
• Positive Sentiment: Move into Nasdaq‑100 ETF market — BlackRock filed to launch Nasdaq‑100 ETFs to directly challenge Invesco’s QQQ, a move that could capture fee‑sensitive flows and expand ETF distribution if competitive pricing gains traction. Benzinga: BlackRock challenges Invesco QQQ
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 earnings focus — Wall Street is publishing detailed forecasts for BlackRock’s March quarter (AUM, revenue, fees) ahead of the April 14 report; investors should watch net flows and fee mix for signs of momentum or headwinds. Yahoo Finance: Countdown to BLK Q1 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Resilience vs. peers — Coverage (WSJ/analysis) highlights BlackRock’s diversified index and active business helping it weather stresses in private credit better than some rivals, supporting relative valuation and investor confidence. WSJ: Why BlackRock is weathering private credit storm
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimming price targets — Multiple brokers (Barclays, Jefferies, KBW, TD Cowen, UBS, Goldman) have reduced Blk price targets this week, reflecting lowered expectations for near‑term earnings and tempering upside. MarketScreener: TD Cowen adjusts BlackRock PT
• Negative Sentiment: Legal inquiry announced — Pomerantz law firm has opened an investor investigation into BlackRock, introducing potential litigation risk and headline volatility. PR Newswire: Pomerantz investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto outflows and margin pressure — BlackRock reported significant on‑chain crypto value declines and over $20B in crypto outflows in Q1, and management warned that macro/inflation effects could make prior earnings forecasts optimistic. Those trends can pressure fee revenue from crypto and active strategies. Finbold: BlackRock crypto outflows

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.