Atomi Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,862 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $5.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,006.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 570,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,651. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,025.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $951.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $155.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. 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.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.