Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $5.98 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 9.3%, owning a total of 42,760 shares valued at approximately $5.97 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds have significantly boosted their stakes in Blackstone, with Capital Research Global Investors purchasing shares worth around $239.8 million and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its holdings by 14,608.6% during the same quarter.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $4.12 and a dividend yield of 2.32%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,760 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Blackstone by 105.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,032,000 after buying an additional 16,486 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $1.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $173.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 871,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,275,120. The stock has a market cap of $126.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.66, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.