Wealthfront Advisers LLC Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Wealthfront Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,489 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,813 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $153.70 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $169.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.26. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.29 billion, a PE ratio of 43.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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 net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.26.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone 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.