BlackRock (BLK) stock rose over 6% on Thursday after announcing that it is increasing its quarterly cash dividend by 10% and authorizing stock buybacks. BlackRock says it will pay a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share to its stockholders, a 10% increase from the previous distribution of $5.22. Additionally, the iShares Bitcoin ETF issuer said it plans to buy back seven million more shares as part of its current stock repurchase program.
Additionally, BlackRock (BLK) announced a strong Q4 2025 earnings report that beat expectations. For Q4 2025, BlackRock reported a 10% increase in its earnings per share (EPS) to $13.16. Revenue rose 23% to $7.01 billion. Both the top and bottom line numbers beat Wall Street’s consensus forecast that called for earnings of $12.24 a share on $6.76 billion in revenue. The firm added that its assets under management (AUM) grew 22% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to reach a record $14.04 trillion.
Another catalyst that could be fueling BlackRock’s rally is a recent report around BlackRock’s chief investment officer, Rick Rieder. Rieder is one of four finalists for the Fed Chair position currently held by Jerome Powell. Rieder was interviewed on Thursday by Trump and other admin members. Should he take on the role of Fed Chair, his future at BlackRock is unclear. However, it would certainly be a bullish catalyst for BLK investors, and could send the stock even higher in the coming months.
Furthermore, BlackRock’s crypto ETFs have had strong success in the last month, with inflows surging. BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF recently purchased $102.9 million worth of ETH and ovr $287 million worth of BTC, adding to their immense crypto stockpiles. BlackRock seems to be amping up its purchases entering 2026, expecting the crypto surge to finally kick in after months of decline. It also now manages over $14T in assets, including crypto.
BlackRock’s stock has a consensus Strong Buy rating among eight Wall Street analysts. That rating was based on six Buy and two Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average BLK price target of $1,321.25 implies 14% upside from the current $1,156.65 price level.