Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Boosts Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 903.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,997 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $14.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $974.97. 1,253,611 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 821,976. The company has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1,013.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $976.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.