Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 8.2%, now owning 64,823 shares valued at approximately $9.06 million.
• Blackstone recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.12 with a yield of 2.5%.
• In the first quarter, several institutional investors adjusted their positions in Blackstone, with AlTi Global Inc. increasing its stake by 161.5%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,823 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,762 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Nine research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $173.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,278,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,148,461. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.68, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $170.29 per share, with a total value of $37,804.38. Following the acquisition, the director owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. This represents a 0.58% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.