Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Western Wealth Management LLC

Western Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,629 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $134.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 272,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,515,350. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.45, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.65.

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.