WealthPLAN Partners LLC Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

WealthPLAN Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 50.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,883 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,187 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $120.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.44. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued 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 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.36.

About Blackstone

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.