Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Key Points

• Sowell Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 13.7%, selling 1,705 shares and ending the second quarter with 10,774 shares valued at $1,612,000.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, increasing from the previous $0.93, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.2%.
• Insider sales included John G. Finley selling 21,500 shares worth approximately $3.69 million and Vikrant Sawhney selling 50,850 shares valued at around $8.83 million, reflecting a decline in their ownership percentages.

Sowell Financial Services LLC lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,774 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,705 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew 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 in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,747,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,801,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $185.77 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.89. The stock has a market cap of $136.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.94, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The firm's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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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