Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $36.39 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Prospera Financial Services Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 237,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,183 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 0.9% of Prospera Financial Services Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $36,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chesapeake Wealth Management bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Vertex Planning Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $338,000. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 58.1% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE BX opened at $183.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.80. The stock has a market cap of $132.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.39 and a 12 month high of $184.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

About Blackstone

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.