Altus Wealth Group LLC Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Altus Wealth Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 615 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 1.0% of Altus Wealth Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $160.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.26.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 2,538,345 shares of company stock valued at $65,046,628 and sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $156.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.98. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

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.