AdvisorNet Financial Inc Sells 1,353 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• AdvisorNet Financial Inc reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 13.8%, selling 1,353 shares during Q2, leaving them with 8,441 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, a significant increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, which reflects a dividend yield of 2.2%.
• Equities research analysts have raised their price targets for Blackstone stock, with estimates now ranging from $165 to $197, indicating a positive outlook for the company's future performance.

AdvisorNet Financial Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,441 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,353 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CRA Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% in the second quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.3% in the second quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 16.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,040 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 16.1% in the second quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 90.7% in the second quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $185.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.93 billion, a PE ratio of 49.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $173.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 222 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $170.29 per share, with a total value of $37,804.38. Following the purchase, the director owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. This represents a 0.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and have sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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