Wiser Advisor Group LLC Raises Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Wiser Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8,312.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,645 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $115.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. 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 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.07.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

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.