Alberta Investment Management Corp Makes New $4.55 Million Investment in BlackRock $BLK

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,547,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its stake in BlackRock by 3.8% in the third quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 604 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5.3% during the third quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 1.7% during the third quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 861 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 34,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,118,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. TD Cowen cut BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. CICC Research boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,082.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,093.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,105.07. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 109,967 shares of company stock valued at $122,487,380 over the last 90 days. 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.