9,989 Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 273,780 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,989 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,478,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $8,667,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 5.1% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 245,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,873,000 after purchasing an additional 11,983 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Blackstone by 82.5% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Private Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,340,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Blackstone from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.57.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone acquired 272,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. This represents a 3.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $2,043,440.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 464,792 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,945 and sold 4,047,276 shares valued at $33,507,144. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BX stock traded down $0.16 on Friday, reaching $119.66. 6,323,248 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,830,402. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.52. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $165.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a decrease from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 99.56%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients.

Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.