Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Purchases 864 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock, purchasing an additional 864 shares, bringing its total ownership to 9,861 shares valued at approximately $9.33 million.
• Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock, significantly reducing his position by 21.83%, while total insider sales reached $74.69 million over the last quarter.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 to be paid on September 23rd.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,861 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 864 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in BlackRock by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,631,684,000 after purchasing an additional 272,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,481,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,109.83 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,130.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,046.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $983.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BLK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.