Brown Financial Advisors Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Brown Financial Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,434 shares during the quarter. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $518,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $189.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $173.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.09 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $136.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.25.

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.