Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $73.25 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 4.1%, owning 472,152 shares valued at approximately $73.25 million after purchasing an additional 18,446 shares in the second quarter.
• Blackstone's stock experienced a 2.8% increase and is currently priced at $188.74, with a market capitalization of $139.12 billion and a P/E ratio of 50.74.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03, raising it from the previous $0.93, which represents a payout ratio of 110.75% and an annual yield of 2.2%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 472,152 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 18,446 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of Blackstone worth $73,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 2,538,071 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $1.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $185.77. The company had a trading volume of 3,037,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,352,768. The company's fifty day moving average price is $173.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.89. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $136.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.94, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

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.