B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,259 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 57.7% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $188.39 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $136.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.88 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued 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 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.69.

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.