Sunbelt Securities Inc. Buys 214 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,673 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Moseley Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.7% during the second quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 13,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 23.7% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 439 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% during the second quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $153.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.41 billion, a PE ratio of 54.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $161.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $141.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Blackstone 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.