GoalVest Advisory LLC Buys 1,242 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.6% of GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 14,608.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $184,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,606 shares during the last quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 350,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,958,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 54.0% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 6,031 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 2,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $1,148,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $138.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.45. The stock has a market cap of $101.23 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BX. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.65.

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.