Moran Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,206 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 0.8% of Moran Wealth Management LLC’s 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 quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.06.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $158.13 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $172.29 and its 200 day moving average is $154.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

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.