Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,882 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 771 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 21.1% during the second quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 7,968 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,457,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 65.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 229,888 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,460,000 after buying an additional 90,698 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,079 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $2,732,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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

Blackstone Trading Up 3.1 %

Blackstone stock opened at $159.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $139.01 and its 200 day moving average is $129.11. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $160.24.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BX. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

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.