Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 13.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,848 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 27,680 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 66,788 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,744,000 after buying an additional 8,210 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 2,079.0% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $5,630,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $1.59 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.94. 1,137,118 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,523,070. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.23.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.56.

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.