Capital Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 940 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Edge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 6,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 13,830 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.35% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $114.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.72 and a 12-month high of $115.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The asset manager reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 17.92%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 347.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 191.52%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director William G. Parrett sold 3,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.47, for a total transaction of $435,708.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,479,934.27. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO David Payne sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.22, for a total value of $1,032,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 53,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,499,664.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William G. Parrett sold 3,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.47, for a total value of $435,708.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,941 shares in the company, valued at $3,479,934.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,402,086 shares of company stock worth $198,963,771 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. TheStreet raised Blackstone from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $98.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $111.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.97.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.