Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,726 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,634 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 0.9% of Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $162.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,976,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $143.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.98. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.29.

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.