Toth Financial Advisory Corp Buys 697 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,835 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 697 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 1.2% of Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,847,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $985,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth $28,185,000. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $264,500,000. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 4,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,298.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,258.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,270.00 to $1,320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,311.06.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s cryptocurrency portfolio reportedly gained more than $15 billion in August, while the firm purchased more than $3.1 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum-linked assets over eight days. Rising crypto prices and strong inflows into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs could increase fee revenue and reinforce its position in digital-asset investing. BlackRock cryptocurrency portfolio up by over $15 billion so far in August
• Positive Sentiment: A newer BlackRock ETF is reportedly up 19% this year, outperforming JPMorgan’s popular JEPQ while charging the same fee. Better-performing products may help BlackRock attract assets and expand recurring management fees. BlackRock ETF performance comparison
• Positive Sentiment: Adroit Trading Technologies announced integration with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, expanding access to cross-asset execution tools for mutual clients. The agreement supports Aladdin’s reach and could modestly strengthen BlackRock’s technology-related revenue opportunity. Adroit Trading Technologies Aladdin integration
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock executives continue to describe Bitcoin as a potential hedge against rising U.S. debt and deficits and say institutional demand is strengthening. This supports the firm’s broader strategy of positioning its ETFs and investment products around digital assets.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock disclosed a significant stake in QIAGEN (QGEN) through a filing with the Dutch financial regulator. The investment may reflect portfolio-management activity, but it is not expected to have a material near-term effect on BLK earnings. BlackRock stake in QIAGEN
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock participated in Piramal Finance’s heavily oversubscribed Indian share offering, highlighting continued institutional demand for its investment-management capabilities but providing limited direct impact on BLK’s financial results.
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s view that the CLARITY Act is less critical for Bitcoin than for other cryptocurrencies suggests the company expects Bitcoin’s institutional adoption to continue even amid regulatory uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from “strong buy” to “hold,” potentially adding valuation pressure after the stock’s substantial advance and recent proximity to its 52-week high.
• Negative Sentiment: The Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into potential securities claims involving BlackRock mutual funds and allegations of misleading business information. The announcement is not a formal finding of wrongdoing, but it creates legal and reputational overhang for investors. Rosen Law Firm BlackRock investigation

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,162.58 on Friday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,079.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,047.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 3.59.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $13.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.69 by $1.22. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 24.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $12.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 55.86 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.78%.

BlackRock 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.