BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stock Rating Lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) was downgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

BLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.11.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3%

BLK opened at $1,049.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $162.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,093.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,101.15.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total transaction of $2,339,962.73. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock-led consortium to buy AES for $33.4B — BLK’s Global Infrastructure Partners is co-leading a large take-private of AES, a move that highlights BlackRock’s scale in fee-generating infrastructure deals and could support future fundraising and performance fees. BlackRock, EQT-led group to buy AES in $33.4-billion deal
• Positive Sentiment: New ETF expands product set — BlackRock launched the iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF (USLN), giving index-based access to the $1.4T U.S. leveraged loan market; new ETF launches can drive incremental AUM and fees if they attract flows. BlackRock Expands Access to U.S. Leveraged Loan Market with Index ETF
• Positive Sentiment: Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows into IBIT — BlackRock’s IBIT posted meaningful daily inflows that helped offset outflows elsewhere in the Bitcoin ETF complex, underscoring investor demand for BlackRock’s crypto product and supporting ETF fee growth. US spot Bitcoin ETFs add $225M as BlackRock’s IBIT offsets redemptions
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a >10%/11.56% stake in Qiagen — a sizable active holding that suggests opportunistic portfolio positioning but has limited direct impact on BLK’s earnings; watchers should note activist-style stakes can be resourced-intensive. BlackRock Lifts Stake in Qiagen to Over 10% of Capital
• Neutral Sentiment: Target-date funds are shifting to higher risk in mid-career — BlackRock says boosting equity risk between ages 45–60 could raise retirement outcomes; long-term product changes can influence flows over time but are not an immediate earnings driver. BlackRock’s target-date funds are about to get riskier. Here’s what you need to know.
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio reshuffle in energy/infrastructure — reports note BlackRock’s GIP led the AES bid while exiting Naturgy positions, signaling active repositioning that could improve returns but also implies transaction-related costs and capital redeployment. BlackRock Reshapes Power Exposure With AES Buyout And Naturgy Exit
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods — KBW cut BLK from “moderate buy” to “moderate sell,” which can pressure sentiment and trigger short-term selling by institutional investors. Zacks — KBW Downgrade Note
• Negative Sentiment: Sector and macro weakness — financial stocks retreated and rising Treasury yields/Geopolitical risk (Iran tensions) are weighing on asset managers broadly by pressuring markets and potential AUM growth. Market-driven flow risk is a key short-term headwind for BLK. Sector Update: Financial Stocks Retreat Late Afternoon

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.