Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 1.8%, now owning 110,723 shares worth approximately $16.56 million.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03, raising its annualized yield to 2.6%.
• Several hedge funds have increased their positions in Blackstone, including a notable 34.6% increase by Brighton Jones LLC in the fourth quarter.

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 110,723 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,003 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up about 0.9% of Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,462 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.8% during the first quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.0% during the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,142 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 30.7% during the first quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 3,124 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $158.01 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $116.47 billion, a PE ratio of 42.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $171.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $180.26.

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.

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