WealthPLAN Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $708,859,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:BX opened at $154.58 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $155.18. The company has a market capitalization of $111.31 billion, a PE ratio of 54.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $137.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.