Little House Capital LLC Acquires New Position in BlackRock $BLK

Little House Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,837,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.4% in the third quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 32,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,316,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,255,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $273,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Prediction markets and media now name Rick Rieder a frontrunner for Fed chair; elevated profile for BlackRock’s longtime fixed?income head can boost confidence in the firm’s rate and bond expertise, and could be viewed as a strategic advantage for BLK’s large fixed?income business. CNBC: The market thinks BlackRock’s Rick Rieder will be the next Fed chair
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remains the largest spot BTC ETF with strong AUM, low fees and a partnership (Delaware Life annuity) that supports long?term product distribution and fee income for BLK. This is a durable growth channel in digital?asset product revenue. CoinDesk: IBIT powers new Bitcoin annuity
• Positive Sentiment: Board upgrade: BlackRock elected Gregg R. Lemkau to its Board, adding a well?connected investor and governance depth — a modest positive for oversight and investor relations. BusinessWire: BlackRock Elects Gregg Lemkau to Board
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock’s partner Securitize made a senior hire (former Nasdaq exec) — helpful for tokenization initiatives but indirect to BLK’s near?term earnings. Yahoo Finance: Securitize hire
• Neutral Sentiment: BLK increased disclosed stakes in other companies (e.g., Caledonia Mining, Archer exposure reported by filings) — signals active portfolio moves but not immediate BLK earnings drivers. TipRanks: BlackRock lifts stake in Caledonia
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern: recent quarterly results showed an EPS beat but revenue missed estimates — investors may be selling into headlines as they parse growth sustainability and fee pressure. Seeking Alpha: Management’s latest numbers point to a hold
• Negative Sentiment: Private?credit headwinds: coverage highlights rumblings and execution/asset?quality questions in private credit exposure that could pressure fee and risk?weighted returns for alternatives. That adds to risk sentiment across asset managers. TipRanks: Private credit trouble

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 target price on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $1,280.00 price objective on BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,106.19 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,081.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,107.40. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The company has a market capitalization of $171.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $5.73 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 58.84%.

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.