Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Group LP (NYSE:BX) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Group were worth $458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burt Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in Blackstone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Lenox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Group during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.46% of the company’s stock.
Several research firms have recently commented on BX. Oppenheimer downgraded Blackstone Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. ValuEngine lowered Blackstone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup downgraded Blackstone Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Blackstone Group in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Finally, S&P Equity Research downgraded shares of Blackstone Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.25.
Shares of BX traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.52. 2,912,966 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,431,077. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $51.91 and its 200 day moving average is $47.90. The company has a market cap of $34.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Blackstone Group LP has a fifty-two week low of $26.88 and a fifty-two week high of $55.17.
Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Blackstone Group had a net margin of 27.05% and a return on equity of 7.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Group LP will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This is a boost from Blackstone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Blackstone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.73%.
In related news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 9,129,966 shares of Blackstone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.75, for a total transaction of $299,006,386.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joan Solotar sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 235,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,693,275.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,763,069 shares of company stock worth $611,503,428. Company 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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