Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $267.63 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 227,660 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,419 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.6% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $267,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 107.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.5%

BLK opened at $1,059.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,082.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,091.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

More BlackRock News

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an Overweight rating, supporting demand expectations and giving BLK near-term analyst support. Morgan Stanley note
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock Canada cut management fees on several core iShares ETF portfolios (effective Dec. 18), which should help competitiveness and could lift AUM/flows in Canada. Fee cut press release
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains generally constructive: multiple recent buy/overweight ratings and above-consensus price targets point to continued analyst conviction in BLK’s long-term earnings power. Analyst notes summary
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock signed an MoU with Mastercard and others to promote blockchain adoption in the Middle East — a strategic partnership that’s incremental for growth but not immediately material to earnings. PYMNTS article
• Neutral Sentiment: Eni sold a 49.99% stake in its carbon capture unit to GIP (BlackRock’s infrastructure fund) giving joint control — a sign of GIP deal activity and infrastructure exposure but limited immediate impact on BLK’s public earnings. Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative valuation pieces (e.g., IVZ vs BLK) are circulating but don’t change fundamentals; useful for allocators weighing expense/return trade-offs. Zacks comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank issued a pessimistic forecast for BLK’s stock, which likely contributed to selling pressure from model/quant funds and some institutional rebalancing. Deutsche Bank note
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced expectations for BLK, adding to the negative analyst noise and pressuring sentiment. KBW note
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto flows: large spot-Bitcoin ETF inflows were reported (helpful) but BlackRock also moved BTC/ETH to exchanges for redemptions, sparking market volatility and headlines blaming BLK for short-term crypto declines — this fuels risk-off in ETFs and hurt sentiment. Blockonomi NewsBTC
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling activity has been reported recently, which can amplify downside as it raises governance/flow concerns among some investors. QuiverQuant insider summary

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,180.00 price target on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,316.18.

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.