Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 130,841 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 995.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 130,841 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.09% of BlackRock worth $154,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% in the second quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $974.47 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $151.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,060.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,085.75.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for 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%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. 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. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 64.71%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $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 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fink’s annual letter emphasizes staying invested through volatility and frames AI as a long-term structural opportunity that should push more households to invest — a message likely to support net inflows into BlackRock products. BlackRock’s Larry Fink warns against trying to time the market.
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is promoting tokenization and expanding digital-asset capabilities (including fast-growing tokenized funds and crypto ETFs), which could drive new AUM and higher fee revenue as institutional and retail adoption accelerates. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Compares Tokenization to the 1996 Internet in Annual Chairman’s Letter
• Positive Sentiment: Recent crypto-related flows (rapid uptake of BlackRock’s Ethereum/staked product and institutional crypto buying) signal alternative growth channels beyond traditional ETFs and could support faster AUM growth. ‘AI threatens to repeat that pattern’: BlackRock CEO warns of wider wealth inequality without broader access
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets ran Fink’s views (AI, tariffs, Social Security, market timing) — boosts publicity and may help client engagement, but immediate AUM impact depends on product execution and flows. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Weighs in on AI and War. Here’s His Advice.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participation in Web3 events and broader industry conferences raises profile in crypto/token markets but is more a strategic positioning story than an immediate earnings driver. Web3 Festival Unveils 2026 Speaker Lineup
• Negative Sentiment: Fink’s warning that AI could widen wealth inequality may draw political scrutiny and calls for policy responses (e.g., taxation, regulation of asset managers/ETFs), a potential long-term headwind for fees and business practices. BlackRock’s Larry Fink Warns Of AI Wealth Gap — Are ETFs Fueling Big Tech Dominance?
• Negative Sentiment: Critical commentary (e.g., claims BlackRock is “pivoting hard” or concentrating ETF flows into big tech/commodities) could amplify concerns about strategy risk and fee pressures if substantiated. BlackRock pivots ‘hard’ for 3rd time in 50 years

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. CICC Research increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,280.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,308.89.

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.