Moran Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,206 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Moran Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 183,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,206 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.8% of Moran Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.0% in the second quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,549 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.4% in the first quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $158.13 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $116.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.51, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on BX shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $181.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.06.

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.