Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,384 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BX. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $170.97 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $149.16 and its 200 day moving average is $134.15. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $175.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $122.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.95, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 121.55%.

About Blackstone

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.