Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Has $8.08 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,676 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,624 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,348,000 after buying an additional 15,875 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,314,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1,722.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,046,000 after buying an additional 476,768 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 536.5% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,726,000 after buying an additional 11,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,129,133.38. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.7 %

BX stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $117.47. 4,142,108 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,682,774. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $125.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $83.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Oppenheimer downgraded Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

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.