Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,407 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $217,083,000 after purchasing an additional 24,237 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 20.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,582,000 after purchasing an additional 142,479 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 904,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,339 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Blackstone by 275.2% during the 3rd quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 108,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,516,000 after buying an additional 79,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $122.73 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $119.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.87. The company has a market cap of $91.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.36.

About Blackstone

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.