Arkadios Wealth Advisors Has $5.50 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 33.4% during Q1, holding 39,371 shares valued at approximately $5.5 million.
• Several hedge funds have also raised their positions in Blackstone, indicating significant institutional interest with 70% of the company's stock owned by institutional investors.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a 2.33% dividend yield.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 33.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,371 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 9,864 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $2.40 on Thursday, hitting $172.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,445,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,817,474. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.84. The firm has a market cap of $126.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

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.