Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 10,273 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Leavell Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,554 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,273 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up about 1.1% of Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $25,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $40,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director James Breyer bought 13,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This trade represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.25.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $163.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.26. The stock has a market cap of $120.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.75. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.