ProVise Management Group LLC Sells 850 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

ProVise Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 850 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Moseley Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 13,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 439 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the second quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $159.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $114.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $139.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.11. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $160.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BX. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

About Blackstone

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.