Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Sells 6,073 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 50,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,073 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% during the second quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.8% during the second quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, McAdam LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $154.55 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $170.20 and its 200-day moving average is $156.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $113.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.26.

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.