Mission Wealth Management LP Sells 2,615 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Mission Wealth Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 36.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,586 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,615 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $122.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,957,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,393,784. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $122.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Blackstone 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.