ProVise Management Group LLC Sells 1,715 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• ProVise Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 4.6%, owning 35,289 shares valued at approximately $4.93 million after selling 1,715 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Blackstone, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its position by 14,608.6% during the same period.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, representing a 2.4% yield and a boost from the previous dividend of $0.93.

ProVise Management Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,289 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,715 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BX. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities increased their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $2.70 on Tuesday, hitting $167.80. 2,874,948 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,277,008. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average price is $153.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.43.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The company 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 was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Blackstone 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.