BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 541 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Lifeworks Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $213,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 701 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $663,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 802 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 136.1% during the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,803,000 after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Finally, AJ Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. AJ Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,118.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $173.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,024.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $975.79. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,125.76.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock 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.