Girard Partners LTD. lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Group LP (NYSE:BX) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 574 shares during the period. Girard Partners LTD.’s holdings in Blackstone Group were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Colony Group LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Group by 7.9% during the second quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 43,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,925,000 after buying an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Group by 7.0% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,747 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. We Are One Seven LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Group in the third quarter valued at $255,000. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT bought a new position in Blackstone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Group by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 21,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 5,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 48.40% of the company’s stock.
Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $52.68. 110,635 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,159,015. Blackstone Group LP has a 12 month low of $26.88 and a 12 month high of $55.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.53.
Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Blackstone Group had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 27.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Group LP will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Blackstone Group’s payout ratio is 86.73%.
A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. S&P Equity Research lowered shares of Blackstone Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Co assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. ValuEngine downgraded shares of Blackstone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Blackstone Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.63.
In other news, insider Joan Solotar sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone Group stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total transaction of $1,345,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 235,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,693,275.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Blackstone Group Inc purchased 46,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.98 per share, for a total transaction of $371,070.00. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 450,243 shares of company stock worth $3,720,395 and have sold 16,887,858 shares worth $589,315,400. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.
About Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is a publicly owned alternative asset manager. The firm also provides capital markets services to its clients. It provides its services to public and corporate pension funds, academic, cultural, and charitable organizations, retirees, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional and individual investors.
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