Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $8.59 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. PUREfi Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 460 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 126 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Key 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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,630,750. This trade represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. CICC Research lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,308.89.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

BlackRock stock opened at $933.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $145.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,047.20 and a 200-day moving average of $1,081.83. 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 has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $11.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $5.73 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

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.