Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 347 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kovack Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $181.56 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $158.78 and a 200-day moving average of $139.01. The firm has a market cap of $131.09 billion, a PE ratio of 62.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.78 and a 12-month high of $183.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

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.