Alterity Financial Group LLC Has $941,000 Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Alterity Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 129 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 1.3% of Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 327.1% during the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 252 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown acquired 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven 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 $119.53.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $131.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $93.89 billion, a PE ratio of 71.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.00. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.29 and a 1-year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 205.46%.

About Blackstone

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.