Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 208 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.4% of Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MRA Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $225,000. Kerusso Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $2,499,000. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 42,397 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,249,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $192,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.8% during the second quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Trading Down 0.8 %

Blackstone stock opened at $137.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.45, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $145.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BX. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.94.

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.