Atria Investments Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Atria Investments Inc lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 28.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,024 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the purchase, the insider owned 16,332,883 shares in the company, valued at $424,001,642.68. This represents a 2.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.82.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of BX opened at $129.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $95.90 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $150.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.46. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 153.61%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.