MML Investors Services LLC Lowers Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,554 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.25.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $185.39 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $173.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.64. The stock has a market cap of $133.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.09 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.