Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Has $3.23 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3,018.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,150 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased 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 last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $4.13 on Thursday, hitting $990.47. The stock had a trading volume of 768,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,873. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,014.60 and a 200 day moving average of $975.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % 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 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.