Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 8,591 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 56.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 8,591 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $27,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% during 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 during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 866.7% during the third quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock launched a new Ethereum ETF (iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, ETHB) that offers staking rewards, a product move likely to attract crypto‑interested AUM and fee revenue. BlackRock launches new ethereum ETF packed with staking rewards
• Positive Sentiment: Cryptos (Bitcoin and Ether) are rising and ETF inflows into crypto products are increasing — a tailwind for BlackRock’s digital assets business and its new crypto ETFs. Bitcoin touches a six-week high as investors pour into ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Reporting shows BlackRock among the largest public holders of Bitcoin alongside Coinbase and others, reinforcing its role in crypto custody/ETF flows. That positioning supports revenue growth in digital asset products. Strategy Now Among Top 4 Bitcoin Holders, Alongside Satoshi, CoinBase and BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock increased its stake in Rentokil Initial above 12% (disclosed), showing active portfolio moves and signaling the firm’s large-scale equity allocations. Rentokil Initial Discloses Increase in BlackRock Stake Above 12%
• Neutral Sentiment: Headline coverage notes BLK outpaced the broader market today — a descriptive take that reflects the intraday move rather than new company fundamentals. Why BlackRock (BLK) Outpaced the Stock Market Today
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock warns in research that Treasuries and government bonds face further selling amid inflation pressures (AI chip demand, oil, military spending) — a market view that may influence client positioning but is not an immediate company credit issue. Treasuries and Other Government Bonds Will Keep Selling Off, BlackRock Says. These Risks Are Lurking.
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit stress: multiple reports flag investor redemptions and a potential exit wave from private credit funds (spillover from Blue Owl) — a clear risk for BlackRock’s private credit exposure and related fee/AUM stability. The private credit collapse spreads from Blue Owl to BlackRock Wall Street Lunch: Private Credit Funds Face $10B Investor Exit Wave

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Evercore reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. CICC Research increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,308.89.

BlackRock Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $943.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $146.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,072.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,090.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

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.