B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $3.11 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,029 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $3,105,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armis Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $330,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $2,744,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $662,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $977.95. 1,060,907 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 690,922. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $922.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $975.08. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $752.30 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.