Eastern Bank Sells 1,018 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Eastern Bank trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,448 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,018 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $49,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 450.0% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 866.7% in 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. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. 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 report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,308.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total transaction of $58,920,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 51,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,971,514.62. The trade was a 51.28% 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 three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $933.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $145.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,047.20 and its 200-day moving average is $1,081.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock integrated Chronicle’s Proof-of-Asset system for its tokenized BUIDL fund, improving on‑chain verification and transparency for ~$1.7B in short‑duration tokenized assets — a measurable product/operational win that supports BlackRock’s tokenization roadmap and potential fee/asset growth. BlackRock Adds Chronicle to Verify Tokenized BUIDL
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock raised its stake in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare to over 7.6%, signaling active capital deployment and portfolio positioning by the firm’s investment teams — a small positive for AUM/engagement signalling. BlackRock Lifts Stake in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare to Over 7.6%
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock participated in high‑level institutional Ethereum discussions and broader tokenization efforts, reinforcing its positioning in digital asset infrastructure and potential new fee pools from institutional crypto adoption. Ethereum Foundation Holds Invite-Only Event For Institutions In New York City
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Larry Fink advocated investing part of Social Security and expanding market participation to address wealth gaps — comments that could be supportive long term for asset management flows but are politically sensitive and slow to influence AUM. Larry Fink calls for Social Security reform, says investing a portion of funds could strengthen the program
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine corporate items: Canadian iShares money‑market ETF cash distributions were announced — operationally normal and unlikely to move BLK shares materially. BlackRock® Canada Announces Final March Cash Distributions for the iShares® Premium Money Market ETF
• Negative Sentiment: BlackRock executives (Rob Kapito, Larry Fink, Rick Rieder) warned that the Iran war and supply disruptions could shave growth and lift inflation — forecasts of higher oil (scenario to $150/bbl) and slower growth have prompted risk‑off positioning that pressures asset flows and market multiples. US Stock Market: BlackRock warns investors mispricing West Asia war risks
• Negative Sentiment: US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $171M of outflows, led by BlackRock’s IBIT (about $41M out) — redemptions from crypto ETFs reduce fees/AUM momentum in a still‑nascent product line and contributed to today’s soft sentiment. Bitcoin ETFs See $171M Outflows as Iran Tensions Rise
• Negative Sentiment: An investor‑class action investigation notice (Pomerantz) was filed regarding BLK — legal/PR overhang that can weigh on sentiment until resolved. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of BlackRock, Inc. – BLK

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.