Altus Wealth Group LLC Sells 615 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Altus Wealth Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 615 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.0% of Altus Wealth Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.26.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of BX stock opened at $156.37 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $171.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $115.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Company 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.