Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Sold by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services cut its Blackstone stake by 3.5% in the third quarter, selling 9,989 shares and retaining 273,780 shares valued at about $30.7 million.
• Blackstone beat quarterly EPS expectations ($1.32 versus $1.26), but revenue fell short of estimates and declined 0.8% year over year. The company also lowered its quarterly dividend to $1.12 per share from $1.29.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $144.57; shares were trading at $119.66 in Friday’s mid-day session.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,780 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,989 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $1,364,373,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $605,267,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,520,908 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $519,859,000 after acquiring an additional 333,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,353,274 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $512,250,000 after acquiring an additional 52,755 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $2,043,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $12,380,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 771,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $95,523,956.20. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 464,792 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,945 and have sold 4,047,276 shares valued at $33,507,144. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $122.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler set a $126.00 target price on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC restated a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.57.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,323,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,830,402. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $165.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a decrease from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 99.56%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients.

Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.

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