AdvisorNet Financial Inc Buys 1,067 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.65.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.3 %

Blackstone stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $136.54. 2,170,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,525,453. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $145.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.21, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.