Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 2,005 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,540 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.8% in the second quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 2,565,543 shares of company stock valued at $69,050,139. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $142.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $159.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.00.

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.