GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $938,000 Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 65.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,582 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,100,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,060 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $162,861,000 after purchasing an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $701,795,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $118.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $117.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.62. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $88.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 13,502,092 shares of company stock worth $294,789,896 and have sold 9,128,660 shares worth $46,457,920. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.05.

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.