Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Moran Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 136,173 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,038 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $217,083,000 after purchasing an additional 24,237 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 20.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,582,000 after purchasing an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 904,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 275.2% during the 3rd quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 108,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,516,000 after buying an additional 79,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $122.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $91.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.36.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.