Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $199.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.40, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.62. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.51 and a twelve month high of $199.95.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

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.